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Football management CVs will have been dug out and modified by the dozen in Scotland - and beyond - this week as vacancies appeared like buses.
Four team bosses have lost their jobs in as many days, with Dundee's James McPake perhaps the unluckiest of all considering the Dark Blues won their last two matches under his charge.
His three-year tenure ended on Wednesday despite a morale-boosting win away to third-top Heart of Midlothian followed by a clinical defeat of Peterhead in the Scottish Cup.
So why did the Dundee board still decide to dismiss their 37-year-old former centre-half and who do they turn to now as they look to lift their side away from relegation danger?
Someone waiting in wings?
In their statement announcing McPake's departure, Dundee's board conceded that, without his leadership, they would not have achieved promotion from the Championship via the play-offs last season.
However, they go on to suggest that they now require someone with "additional experience" in their current precarious position in the Premiership - in the relegation play-off spot, one point above bottom-placed St Johnstone and six behind Ross County.
According to the likes of former Dundee manager Jim Duffy and ex-Dens Park striker Rory Loy, such "surprising timing" suggests they already have someone else lined up to take over.
That would certainly go some way to explaining why McPake was dismissed despite that win at Tynecastle, which lifted them off the bottom of the table, and the avoidance of a cup banana skin at Balmoor against part-time hosts that also set up a money-spinning tie at home to Rangers.
With Aberdeen having parted company with Stephen Glass on Sunday, many are putting two and two together and suggesting that Dundee have acted now to prevent their Premiership rivals beating them to a potential target - or want to follow up on someone keen but about to find their CV in the Pittodrie bin.
Jim Goodwin is favourite for the Aberdeen job and a move from in-form Premiership rivals St Mirren to Dens Park is unlikely to appeal as a step up if he doesn't end up at Pittodrie.
Paul Lambert and Neil Lennon are high-profile characters keen on a return to management
However, it's almost a year since Neil Lennon and Paul Lambert left Celtic and Ipswich Town respectively, while Jack Ross is also thought to have been considered by Aberdeen after his recent exit from Hibernian.
Meanwhile, Derek Adams has just been sacked by Bradford City and, although he has just left a side sitting 11th in England's League Two, the 46-year-old had a fine record in the top flight with Ross County last time round.
Paul Hartley, who finished his playing career at Pittodrie, appears to be on his way to a second successive promotion with League 1 newcomers Cove Rangers, but the former Scotland midfielder had a similar experience to McPake the last time he was at Dens Park - leading them to promotion then being sacked with his side sitting second bottom.
Then there's the legendary Dick Campbell, leading nearby part-timers Arbroath to the top of the Championship. However, the 68-year-old's only experience of being a top-flight manager was a brief spell trying in vain to prevent Dunfermline Athletic being relegated after stepping up from assistant following the departure of Bert Paton back in 1999.
Of course, Dundee have a man with plenty of additional experience on their own staff already in the shape of technical director Gordon Strachan.
Smart money at the bookmakers, though, seems to be on Strachan calling on his former Scotland assistant, Mark McGhee, the former Aberdeen boss, who would be making a return to the Premiership for the first time since leaving Motherwell in 2017.
That could be considered a gamble since the 64-year-old's most recent experiences have been in England's lower leagues and in October he left Stockport County, where he was assistant until Simon Rusk was sacked with their side sitting 10th in the fifth-tier National League.
Considering they departed Queen of the South and Alloa Athletic respectively this week with their sides in relegation trouble, don't expect Allan Johnston or Barry Ferguson's names to be in the Dens Park frame!
Charlie Adam (centre) and Niall McGinn (right) will be key players in the Premiership run-in
Whoever takes charge at Dens Park will find a squad that has not changed drastically in two transfer windows from the one that won promotion via a play-off win over Kilmarnock after finishing runners-up to Hearts in the Championship.
The new boss will find a side who rely heavily on veteran former Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam for their creativity but who - according to the statisticians at Opta - have the second worst possession rate behind Livingston in the top flight and have the second worst defensive record behind County.
Whereas the Dingwall side have compensated for that with goals for, Dundee have been unable to convert their chances despite having more touches inside the opposition penalty box than four of their 12 rivals.
With the experiment of taking Leigh Griffiths on loan from Celtic having failed in the first half of the season, the new manager will have to hope that the arrival of Niall McGinn from Aberdeen and Zak Rudden from Partick Thistle can improve on the league's fewest attempts on goal behind St Johnstone.
Jim Duffy thinks James McPake's reputation "hasn't been tarnished too much".
Two-time former Dundee manager Jim Duffy
I absolutely think it's a harsh decision. James McPake's won the last two games and they're into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup and they have been drawn against Rangers, which is likely to be a TV game with revenue coming in.
If it has been done a few weeks ago when Dundee were in such a bad run, you may have accepted it or expected it, so the timing is a little bit of a shock.
He had a job to do, which was to get Dundee promoted, and managed to achieve it.
While Dundee's performances haven't been too bad, their results haven't been brilliant, but they are still in a fight and are not stranded at the bottom of the league.
However, the board know how imperative it is, not only financially but for the reputation of the club, to maintain their Premiership status. They have maybe been spooked a bit by the improvement Ross County have had recently, while St Johnstone brought in an awful lot of players during the January transfer window.
James McPake will be devastated, but his CV hasn't been tarnished too much.
