It’s never a good sign in the country’s lower divisions when the main talking point of the weekend is created by a club that isn’t even playing.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as Raith Rovers recorded their first away win of the season by beating Queen’s Park on Friday evening.
Less than 24 hours later it emerged that the match at Hampden had been Neill Collins’ last game as Raith manager after just 109 days in charge.
While Falkirk remained top of the table on Saturday and Ayr rejoined the promotion hunt with a win over second-placed Livingston, talk of the steamie was de farce in Fife.
As you will recall, this is a club who decided to sack their previous manager, Ian Murray, in August, just two months after he led them to the Premier League play-off final.
While that in itself seemed strange, you could argue, like Raith, that Murray’s football wasn’t the best and that there were better managers.
Neill Collins parted ways with Raith Rovers after just 109 days in charge of the Kirkcaldy club
Falkirk forward Callumn Morrison scores the only goal in his team’s 1-0 win over Hamilton
But to make that decision without a clear succession plan after just one game of the new league season – a 1-0 defeat to Airdrie – seemed reckless in the extreme.
It took them a month to replace it. After agreeing terms with David Healy, who then thought better of it, they gave the job to Collins, who spent five successful years in charge of Tampa Bay Rowdies before spending a short, ill-fated spell at Barnsley.
The 41-year-old Scot was given a three-year contract, but it now appears that a release clause was written into the contract and that his ambitions lay elsewhere.
When Sacramento Republic offered him a return to the US last week, he jumped at it.
Raith is now looking for their third campaign manager. After finishing second last season, they are now closer to a relegation play-off than a promotion play-off.
And the frustration for Raith fans is that it all seems so unnecessary. When will clubs learn that the key ingredient to success is stability off the field?
Even if they don’t have the best manager in the world, he will do his job if he is backed by a sensible and consistent strategy.
It is no coincidence that the three Championship clubs leading the promotion race at mid-season have either a long-term manager or a pragmatic, sustainable football department.
Since 2022, John McGlynn has rebuilt Falkirk, ending their long exile in League One and naming them favorites for the Championship title.
A week after a surprise 5-2 defeat to Ayr, the leaders got back on track with a 1-0 win against Hamilton. Callumn Morrison’s goal with ten minutes to go put them five points ahead.
Livingston has gone from strength to strength of late, with a strong squad and an astute, long-serving manager in David Martindale.
Ayr United manager Scott Brown guided his team to a narrow victory over second-placed Livingston
They drew closer and closer to Falkirk until they lost at home to Ayr this weekend.
George Oakley scored the only goal in a hard-fought win that owed much to Ayr’s goalkeeper, Harry Stone, who produced a stunning injury-time save. Scott Brown’s side, now within two points of Livingston, have won five of their last six games.
Brown is not an experienced manager, but he has a club that does many things well, both on and off the pitch.
They tend not to lead the way and you feel that he is given every opportunity to succeed.
As it happens, most Championship clubs are loyal to their managers. Dougie Imrie has been with Morton for three years, John Rankin with Hamilton for two and a half years.
Rhys McCabe is having a disastrous season at abysmal Airdrie but they have vowed to back a young manager hailed as one of the most promising players in the sport.
In the meantime, Raith has asked technical director John Potter and assistant manager Colin Cameron to take over temporary management, as they did during the opening weeks of the season.
That will buy them time to identify and appoint a new permanent manager. The question is: who wants the job?