That's your Jim Jefferies back in a job then ..

Barely two weeks ago we posted a piece on Inside Left about the sacking of Jim Jefferies from Kilmarnock. At the time we made a correct prediction about who would succeed him at Rugby Park but we failed to even imagine where Jefferies would end up. Now, in light of recent events, it all seems so obvious - the third worst job in Scottish football.

That things were not going well at Tynecastle was pretty clear. The team that had finished third last season where struggling to get going, winning only three games by the middle of December and leaving the club languishing in the bottom half of the table. A worsening discipline record which saw Hearts lead the Red and Yellow card tables (per club) did not exactly make for pleasant football at times.

But the green (or maroon) shoots of recovery where showing signs of breaking through with a run of seven games without defeat (the Jambos beat Celtic, Falkirk, Motherwell and St Mirren, as well as getting credible draws against city rivals Hibs and defending champions Rangers). Laszlo found his team back in 5th place, and back in the running for European football.

But relationships with his enmployer where probably not much improved after Lazslo's outspoken frustrations at the lack of movement in the transfer market. Moves for Steven MacLean fell through, as did the possible signing of Izale McLeod, who chose to go to Peterborough instead. The club was also involved in extensive negotiations with club stalwarts Michael Stewart, Jose Goncalves, Marian Kello and Christian Nade which seemed to drag on, and on the morning of his sacking, he said that even if Lee Wallace (reputedly a target for Celtic) was sold, he'd have no money to spend.

Back to back defeats to Aberdeen followed however (one of which knocked them out of the Cup), and for a manager who was widely tipped for the sack at the start of the season (and especially one who is managing at one of the more volatile clubs in Scotland), things were getting decidedly hairy.

It must surely have crossed Laszlo's mind that the sacking of Jim Jefferies at Kilmarnock was 'not a good thing'. After all, Jefferies is a former player and manager at the club, having guided the Jambo's to a Scottish Cup win in 1998, as well as a runners up spot in both the 95/96 Scottish Cup and the 96/97 League Cup.

It's probably not stretching fantasy too much to suppose that a deal was struck between Jefferies and Romanov somewhere around the start of December, when both Hearts and Kilmarnock where on a pretty poor run of form. Jefferies was frustrated at his clubs lack of resources in the face of mounting debt, while Romanov was irked by his side’s poor start to the season, their lack of domestic success and a manager who, frankly, was a bit too much of a whiner.

In the end, it was all a question of timing really. To have sacked Laszlo at the start of the season - as was widely tipped - would have meant finding a manager to take over at a club that was in some trouble, plus having to pay Laszlo a large amount of money to get rid of him.

Romanov's intolerance of the managers running his team is well documented, and it must surely not have escaped Jefferies' notice that he is the 10th manager in five years of Romanov ownership of the club. A return home to a club at which he made his name as a player and manager may not be as welcome as he might believe; sure, the fixtures and fittings may well be the same, but the expectations laid at his feet by a demanding owner may well be too hard to fulfill.

Jefferies can only hope that as a manager who has an emotional attachment to the club he'll last longer than any of his predecessors. But given that Romanov once said that his ultimate aim is for Hearts to win the Champions League within five years, and with history of Hearts of Midlothian managerial longevity not in his favour, Jefferies would do well not to get too comfortable.