It has seemed as though Ray McKinnon has had a meteoric rise up the managerial ladder to become the new Dundee United boss.
However, it is worth remembering that it has taken the former Tangerines midfielder 10 years to reach this position.
It was away back in 2006 that he was asked to take over at Dundee Junior outfit Lochee United.
McKinnon was boss at Thomson Park for three years before leaving the club to take up a post at the SFA as a technical development officer, helping coaches – including the likes of current Dundee boss Paul Hartley and former Rangers and Everton star Duncan Ferguson – through A and B licences.
Then, in 2012, McKinnon took what he has described as a “huge gamble” to give up his job security with the governing body and take a 50% pay cut to become manager of part-time Brechin.
His decision was indeed a massive risk as he was taking charge of a club that was well and truly in the doldrums sitting third bottom of League One.
However, McKinnon turned things around and took the Angus club all the way to the play-offs that season where they were unlucky to lose out to Alloa who were managed at the time by Hartley.
The tensions of the tie boiled over in the second leg with McKinnon, his assistant Grant Johnson along with Hartley being sent to the stand.
The next season was one to largely forget for Brechin with McKinnon’s squad ravaged by injuries throughout the campaign.
Last season, though, he worked his magic again on a shoestring budget, taking Brechin back to the play-offs where they once more lost out narrowly to Alloa, 2-1 on aggregate.
Throughout his time as the Glebe gaffer, McKinnon had made no secret of the fact that he was ambitious and ultimately would like to manage a full-time club.
So it was no surprise to see him linked with vacant posts last summer with Championship sides St Mirren and Raith both interested in snapping him up.
McKinnon was interviewed for the Buddies job but the St Mirren board ultimately decided to opt for Ian Murray.
However, the Paisley outfit’s loss was Raith’s gain with McKinnon taking over in the hot-seat vacated by Grant Murray.
The new boss wasted no time stamping his imprint on the squad at Stark’s Park, with eight players being released by the club.
McKinnon soon began freshening things up, drafting in the likes of Ryan McCord, Kyle Benedictus, Lewis Toshney, James Craigen and bringing Iain Davidson back to the club.
McKinnon was working with what is believed to be the smallest budget of any full-time club in Britain, yet Rovers made a great start to this season, winning 10 out of their first 15 matches.
The manager also used the personal touch to help bring in former Scotland midfielder Scott Robertson after an ill-fated spell for the 30-year-old in Romania.
With his budget spent, McKinnon managed to persuade a local business to help out and supply the funds to offer Robertson a contract.
As the campaign progressed, the Stark’s boss also used the loan system to good effect bolstering his squad with the likes of Louis Longridge from Hamilton, Ryan Hardie from Rangers and Harry Panayioutou from Leicester City as well as snapping up Aidan Connolly when he was released by Dundee United.
Raith suffered a dip in form at the start of this year failing to win any of their first six matches of 2016.
However, Rovers then embarked on a truly-incredible run, losing only once, at Ibrox, in their next 14 matches, a sequence of results that secured their place in the Premiership play-offs.
They won the first leg of their quarter-final against Hibs at Stark’s Park last Wednesday 1-0 but could not overcome the loss of two early goals at Easter Road on Saturday with the defeat bringing their season to a conclusion.
The game in Edinburgh was also McKinnon’s last in charge of the club, with Dundee United making their move as early as Saturday night.
After three days of talks at the start of this week between Tannadice chairman Stephen Thompson and McKinnon, a deal was finally concluded with the lifelong United fan now tasked with taking the club back to the top tier of Scottish football – and as quickly as possible.
