Dundee Utd chairman Stephen Thompson faces the biggest test of his brief chairman's reign so far at Tannadice as he begins the search for a new manager, after caretaker boss for the job vacated by .
Thompson has made a good job of filling the shoes of his late father Eddie, who had his share of managerial disappointments, but now he faces his toughest task to date.
Get it right and he'll be a hero; get it wrong and he'll get it in the neck.
United are thought to have a list of eight candidates which will be whittled down to a shortlist of five names in the coming days.
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Dundee United fans have had it good in recent times with having restored the club's bruised pride and reputation.
Life moves on, though, and with Levein leaving to take the Scotland job, United must now find the man to take the club forward, building on the substantial progress made in his three years at Tannadice.
: no rebuilding work needed, a talented squad of players who have shown themselves capable of matching the best in the country, and a stable club.
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Rangers' win proved that although the gap between the Old Firm and the rest of the Scottish Premier League is narrowing, when it comes to sheer mental toughness, the chasing pack have to work harder at mind games.
United are more than capable of matching and beating the Old Firm, as are Hibs and Motherwell on their day.
However, consistency is the killer for teams chasing Scotland's big two, and much of that is down to developing a mental hardness which then must be honed, sharpened and perfected.
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are currently staring at each other like wild west gunslingers, while red cards in the Scottish game proliferate like bankers' bonuses.
But who'll blink first and will it come to a shoot-out before sanity prevails?
The sports psychologist Tom Lucas offers the theory that a kind of class war is at the root of the current problem.
His suggestion is that referees, in the main, are drawn from the professional classes while the players, by and large, are the hewers of wood and the drawers of water.
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, and signify the changing of the old guard and the coming of the new breed of football manager in Scotland - and it's a welcome development.
All three are articulate, media savvy and thoughtfully opinionated in their musings on the game. They ally their football experience with an understanding of social trends and change, and a readiness to embrace these, whether it be in re-working youth systems, their managerial techniques, or their willingness to challenge a cosy media consensus.
Similarly, a new breed of supporter has been patiently working to ensure that the old order of Scottish football must accept change.
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They pay me to watch football and talk football. That’s some people's idea of Christmas every day. I can't deny it's mine too. I view the football world through a different lens from some journalists, because I live and work in Dundee. The Old Firm are interesting, but so was my breakfast this morning. There is a whole lot more on the Scottish football menu than the big two. From the SPL to the juniors, the game offers lots of dishes, and they all get my taste buds going.