More, how long have we waited for this news.
Craig Levein leaving his role as Scotland manager surprises few people, if any, but the time it took the Scottish Football Association to reach the decision is much more startling.
A record boasting just three wins in 12 competitive fixtures shows little signs of progress despite Levein being a popular dressing room figure.
Taking up office in 2009 as George Burley’s successor, Levein was widely regarded as the right man to take Scotland forward with many welcoming the move.
But just three years on those very supporters will more than likely welcome his departure in equal measure.
No longer could defences be made to cover the ever-growing list of blunders during his tenure.
An optimistic façade won over the dressing room yet many Scottish fans were becoming disenchanted by the lack of on-field evidence to support the manager’s positive tones.
The players of the Scotland squad have publically supported their manager till the bitter end with StokeCity midfielder Charlie Adam demonstrating his support via Twitter.
However, it is somewhat difficult to point out a highlight of Levein’s tenure as manager with little in the way of inspirational progress to note.
Levein’s Scotland have won only 10 in 24 matches in total and with four games play in the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign and no win registered it is clear to see why the adverts are out for a new man in charge.
Innovation and experiment were trial by the Scotland manager at times but even a 4-6-0, striker-less formation yielded no result against the CzechRepublic.
It would be careless to start summing up this post without a mention of the Steven Fletcher saga.
The forward made known he did not want to be considered for selection by Levein having been left out of the squad to face Czech Republic and Spain.
What followed was a lengthy confrontation between the pair which came to a climax just last month, too late to save Levein’s position as boss.
Twenty days have passed since Scotland’s last outing in Brussels which makes the timing of the decision confusing to many but Chief Executive Stewart Regan claimed the board wanted to avoid knee-jerk reactions.
It may have been glaringly obvious to many, but now it has been done Scotland yet again look for someone to advance their position in world football.
That was the mission which Levein chose to accept and after an unrewarding three years the seat is vacant once again.
Ben Hampshire (@BH92)
Through the sports lens 