Dundee United have today confirmed the departure of manager Tam Courts.
The Tannadice boss left his role by mutual consent after expressing his desire to explore other options outside of Scottish football.
Courts has been in talks with Croatian side Rijeka over the past week.
The 40-year-old gaffer led United to their best placed Scottish Premiership finish in nine years last season, securing a return to Europe in the process.
Dundee United sporting director Tony Asghar insists the Tayside outfit are moving quickly to appoint a successor, with the appointment already in the advanced stages and likely to come in the next few days.
But who is likely to fill the vacancy?
Record Sport have taken a look at some possible candidates...
Jack Ross
The ex-Hibs and St Mirren boss has been linked with a number of vacancies since leaving Easter Road.
The 46-year-old was heavily connected to United's Tayside rivals Dundee following the departure of Mark McGhee but the boyhood Dundee fan withdrew from the process before Gary Bowyer was appointed.
Ross was sacked by Hibs in December 2021, after a run of seven defeats in nine league games.
Now that the Tannadice role has opened up, Ross is believed to see it as the perfect opportunity to get back into management.
Court has built solid foundations for any new man to build on, and a return to Europa Conference League action for Ross will likely appeal. He took Hibs to the Continent last season, beating FC Santa Coloma before, ironically, going out to Courts' prospective new employers, Rijeka.
United's ambition will be to compete for third, fourth and the European places on a regular basis. Ross did that in one full season at Hibs, and the consensus was that he would have again had Ron Gordon not pulled the trigger last winter.
On paper, the standout candidate for where United are right now.
Malky MacKay
Mackay was previously linked with the job at Tannadice and was the bookmakers' favourite.
A fine season in charge of Ross County had several clubs sitting up to take notice, and McKay was linked with the Hibs job before Lee Johnson landed the Easter Road gig.
The former Cardiff boss would've come with baggage anyway, but the Staggies and United weren't exactly best of pals last term.
Courts made a point of holding up a 'Show Racism the Red Card' t-shirt after former United midfielder Jeando Fuch was allegedly abused by a Ross County.
MacKay described the move as "pre-meditated" and accused his counterpart of "jumping the gun".
Then came the Dundee United pitch invasion during the final game of the season.
Nicky Clark's stoppage time winner secured fourth place for United, and the travelling fans spilled on to the pitch in celebration.
McKay insisted afterwards "lives were in danger" as a result, after flares and smoke bombs were also thrown.
From a purely footballing perspective, McKay would seem to tick a lot of boxes, but whether he'd prove a popular appointment with the Tannadice faithful is open to debate.
Charlie Mulgrew
The former Celtic defender proved to be an important leader on the pitch last season, but do United see him as a successful one of it at this stage?
The centre back was the elder statesmen in an often youthful United side, leading by example and guiding their young stars through matches.
Whether he would want to give up playing for the dugout just yet, who knows? And his influence in the heart of defence and in the dressing room amongst his peers may to too valuable for Tony Asghar to transition the Scotland international from one of the lads to being the boss ... for now.
Kevin Thomson
Like Courts, Thomson made his name as a manager with Kelty Hearts. However, the former Rangers and Hibs midfielder did so at a higher level with the Fife club as they ran away with the League Two title last season.
Thomson was open about the fact he interviewed for other jobs whilst still in charge at New Central Park, with Kilmarnock being one of them.
He's since left Kelty to try to boost his chances of landing a gig with a full-time club, which may be seen as a gamble by others.
He'd no doubt back himself to make the jump to Premiership and European football, and would have a valid argument were he to point to his and Courts' respective CVs and argue that he's more qualified than the former United boss was when he took the reins.
Shaun Maloney
After a disastrous four months at Hibs, Maloney could already find himself at a managerial crossroads.
He was in the running for the Dundee job alongside Ross, and looked to be the favourite after his Hibs predecessor pulled out.
Talks broke down though, and Bowyer was given the job.
If United treat his time at Easter Road as something of an audition, then it's hard to see Maloney getting the nod.
However, Vincent Kompany's appointment as Burnley boss could mean an attractive opportunity comes Maloney's way.
The pair know each other well, having worked together under Roberto Martinez with the Belgian national team.
And a chance to link up with Kompany at Turf Moore before giving management another shot could be a wise move of Maloney's part.
Mark Fotheringham
The 38-year-old is currently working in the Bundesliga as Felix Magath's number two at Hertha Berlin.
A Dundee native, Fotheringham had two spells with United's city rivals as a player.
Highly regarded as coach in Germany, the chance to cut his managerial teeth in his hometown could be a welcome one.
Asghar proved last season that he's not averse to giving unproven bosses their chance, and like Thomson, Fotheringham can legitimately claim more experience than Courts had in a similar position.
David Healy
The Northern Ireland legend has a legacy of success at Linfield, winning NIFL Premiership five times in the last six years, as well as two Irish Cups and a League Cup.
Some might say he's onto a good thing, so why leave? But the chance to move up a level, with all due respect to Northern Irish football, could be a hard one to turn down.
Regular forays into the Champions League qualifiers with the Blues mean doing so with United next season won't daunt Healy in the slightest, and his background as a player would command respect within the dressing room.
A knowledge of the transfer market across the water could also prove handy when it comes to picking up lesser-known bargains in order to put his own stamp on the squad Courts leaves behind.
Plus – an outside chance...
Duncan Ferguson
The former Tannadice striker is highly thought of at Everton, where he even took the caretaker reins when Carlo Ancelotti was sacked. He is said to be an excellent coach and chief motivator. If not in Dundee, expect Big Dunc to sometime soon rock up as a boss in his own right.
