Where's Ian Cathro? Former Hearts manager back in game after Tottenham exit and eyeing head coach return

"Whatever happened to Ian Cathro?" Sometimes, when thinking about something else entirely, maybe while engaged in a menial task, this thought will form out of nowhere, nag for a while and then dissolve before its next unbidden appearance somewhere or other down the line.

Ian Cathro on the Tynecastle touchline during his short-lived spell in charge of Hearts.

Glimpses of the former Hearts manager in the background on Match of the Day haven’t always been enough to satisfy the curiosity.

Ok, so we know Cathro was able to put his spectacular crash at Hearts behind him. That much is clear from his post-Tynecastle CV. But while Austin MacPhee, his assistant at Hearts, has remained very visible, in part due to posts with the Northern Ireland and now Scotland international football teams, as well as his Aston Villa set-piece specialist duties, Cathro has managed to operate somewhat under the radar while at massive clubs. Just the way he likes it, one suspects.

It was therefore pleasing to have the rare opportunity to catch up with Cathro a few days ago as he provided an update on his whereabouts over a year on from his departure from Tottenham Hotspur.

Ian Cathro on the training pitch at Tottenham Hotspur, where he enjoyed working with England striker Harry Kane.

Even his Wikipedia page has still to catch up with the news he is now at Al-Ittihad, the Jeddah-based Saudi Arabian club. His current base is no real surprise given the manager is Nuno Espirito Santos, his long-time mentor since they met while on a Scottish Football Association-coaching course 13 years ago, and with whom he has worked at Rio Ave, Valencia and Wolves.

He also enjoyed a spell at Newcastle United under Steve McClaren and then Rafa Benitez, who kept Cathro on after the former England manager was sacked.

Now all of 36-years-old, he says he’s learned how to slow down. This outlook has been necessitated by a change in personal circumstances. He now has a wife, Lana, and new baby daughter Benedita, born last October, to think about, although they are presently in Scotland. “The name (Benedita) is from Portugal,” beams Cathro. “I’m speaking to her completely in Portuguese, my wife speaks to her in English. We’re trying to give her that skill as she grows up.”

As in Scotland, the Saudi Pro League gets underway again this week. Cathro was at a mid-season camp in Dubai with his team when Saudi Arabia shocked the world by beating Argentina 2-1 in a World Cup group game last month. There’s clearly talent in them thar dunes. With Martin Boyle having recently gone back and forth between Hibs and Al-Faisaly, does Cathro view it as a market Scottish clubs might explore?

Ian Cathro with former Premier League player Ahmed Hegazy at Al-Ittihad.

“The answer is no,” he says, firmly. “The top (players) could go and compete at a high level for sure. The difference here, particularly for the local players, is they have earning power that Scottish teams, for example, could get nowhere near.”

The speculation linking Ronaldo with a move to Saudi Arabia - Al-Nassr are reportedly in for the former Manchester United star - is not surprising, giving the money on offer. Cathro sounds a note of caution. “They don’t want it to be a gold-plated retirement home,” he warns.

Retirement is certainly far from Cathro’s thoughts. God-willing, he wants to work for another 36 years. Not all of this, it's safe to assume, will be spent in the Middle East, where, he admits, the sun and his pale Dundonian complexion are not a good mix.

“We more or less train once the sun goes down,” he explains. “And when we don’t, if there is half a pitch covered by shade that’s the half where I’ll be standing.”

He won’t always be content to remain in the shadows, surely? Hearts hasn’t put him off management for life, has it?

“With the fortune of good health, the vast majority of my career I expect to be as a head coach,” he says. “I’m no longer in a rush in my life. That’s a good conclusion to make. It’s pretty peaceful. I don’t live life in a rush anymore. That gives me comfort to live in the moment and look forward in a calm way knowing the vast majority of my career is ahead of me.”

Few managers can hope to have his grounding. He’s enjoyed the equivalent of a near-20 year-apprenticeship, most of it at the very top level, with a spell of intense work experience, when he was suddenly made manager of Scotland’s third biggest club, thrown in.

Indeed, it was six years ago this month - in the Bobby Walker suite inside the old main stand at Tynecastle - when Cathro, then aged 30, was unveiled alongside MacPhee. Two young coaching thrusters from Dundee and Fife respectively, paired together not because of any previous connection – they barely knew each other – but in the hope they might unite to redefine our long-held views about management.

Despite Jose Mourinho's success, a snobbery about those who haven't played the game at a significant level has persisted. The term 'laptop manager' was banded about, by Kris Boyd principally. Others saw it as a grand conceit on the part of Craig Levein, the then director of football.

Experiment or otherwise, it didn't work. “That was six years ago," says Cathro. "Six years is a long time. I don’t live in the past. I have completely moved on and I’m focused on going forward…just not too far forward…and being more at peace and to enjoy what we are doing now.”

Surely he has kept up with some old associates from Tynecastle? Levein, for example, stuck his neck out for the young coach until the situation became untenable (he was sacked before the 2017/18 league season started, on the back of a failed League Cup campaign)? It seems few relationships have been maintained.

“Edinburgh is (still) home,” said Cathro. “When I get the chance to be home, I love being there. But most of my football connections are elsewhere.”

Respect must be given to Cathro, even if he suffered for the lack of it during that ill-fated seven-month stint at Tynecastle. It stands to reason he’s a far better coach now. “It’s impossible not to be because of the environment I’ve worked in,” he says. “You either function at that level or you’re gone. That’s the thing I’ve enjoyed the most, competing against the best coaches, best analysts, best sports scientists, best directors and best players."

He certainly seems to have more confidence around reporters. Why would a Zoom interview setting faze you after you've spent time working with the man-of-the-moment Harry Kane, as he did at Spurs? Cathro not only regards the England skipper as a top striker, but one of the best footballers in the world, full stop.

"His understanding of football and his intelligence of how the ball is going to move and what positions he needs to take in every part of the pitch is extraordinary," he says.

"He’s one of the best I’ve worked with in that respect. He’s a pure top-class footballer. That didn’t just happen. He has invested a helluva lot. I know he has looked at each part of his game at different stages of his career and sought out how to turn himself into what he is today.”

A missed penalty in a World Cup quarter final won’t alter Kane’s drive and conviction, just as Cathro hasn’t been put off by one false start at Hearts.