Craig Levein to Dundee United: Past glories tempt board, and why ex-Hearts boss may jump at role

But in some instances, the ability to block out past agonies and to plough on regardless, are not only advisable but necessary.

It allows women to put themselves through the pain of childbirth time and again, with most new mothers reporting that the euphoria of holding their new-born baby masks, then dilutes the memory of the preceding pain. Described by psychologists as the halo effect, it is also what permits managers to dust themselves down after a sacking or turbulent period and throw themselves back into a role that, these days, tends to give them less than nine months to deliver.

Which is why Craig Levein could be about to step back into management with Dundee United, a club seeking its third manager this term, where the sporting director Tony Asghar has just left, a takeover bid from a local consortium is being mooted and where relegation has become a very real fear.

Having emptied Jack Ross after a 9-0 home annihilation by Celtic in August, his successor Liam Fox was axed following the team’s 4-0 capitulation at the hands of relegation rivals Ross County on Sunday. It was a result that left the Tannadice side sitting four points adrift at the foot of the Premiership, albeit with a game in hand on the sides immediately above them. Now it looks like it will be up to Levein to mastermind the escape.

The last time he was at the helm, between 2006 and 2009, he dragged United back up the league standings, sorted out the youth academy to ensure a conveyor belt of young talent and pieced together a squad that went on to win the Scottish Cup. Having elevated his own reputation to such an extent that he was lured away to take on the Scotland job, it was Peter Houston and then Jack McNamara who benefitted, building on Levein’s hard work to win the silverware and bring through and develop the likes of Stuart Armstrong, John Souttar and Ryan Gauld. But, few would dispute Levein’s influence and endeavour throughout the three-plus years he spent on Tayside.

United are in a mess at the moment, where a lack of continuity, thanks to trigger-happy owners, and an under-performing group of players, have conspired to leave them battling to avoid the drop. It suggests he is the kind of experienced head they need to dig them out the mire. Having done it once, the board and owner Mark Ogren are keen to give him the platform to do it again. And, Levein is a man who backs himself – a necessary trait in any manager – and who has a level of gravitas and the kind of experience and no-nonsense attitude United seem in dire need of.

Absent from the technical area since he was sacked by Hearts in October 2019, after some time out to lick his wounds, he has kept a close eye on the Scottish game, and having carved out a role for himself as a top pundit while being director of football at Highland League outfit Brechin City, he understands the current state of play at United. He will recognise that things are messy but he will also know that a 58-year-old who has been out of the managerial loop for a few years and was ultimately viewed as less than successful in his two most recent managerial jobs - with Hearts and Scotland – is unlikely to be offered much better. It will be up to him to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear and rehabilitate his reputation.

Some might wonder why he would bother. Like many ex-players who shy away from the pressures and often unrealistic demands of a football manager, he has a comfortable second career in the media. But anyone who knows the man who was forced to curtail his playing days due to injury, knows he has unfinished business. He may have mellowed over the years but he remains a stubborn competitor. A person immersed in the game, who finds days easier to fill when he is in a job he can dedicate himself to rather simply walking the dogs, he may not be a rookie boss but he is still too young to accept that the best days are behind him and curl up on the sofa with a sudoku.

That was evident after he suffered a heart attack in August 2018. Afterwards he was forced to miss some games, holed up at home under orders from his doctors and his wife. But he couldn’t wait to return to a job that consumed every waking minute. From the planning, recruiting, tactics, and mind games, the coaching and the man-management, he has an enthusiasm for every aspect of the job and he thrives on being at the core of it.

For him, the commentary position is too far removed. Maybe it is all those years missed rehabilitating in the gym as a player – close but not close enough – but he is at his most enthusiastic when he is in dressing rooms, on the touchline, and in the heat of battle. So, while the Dundee United situation is not ideal, it is appealing. It offers him so much scope to improve. An often divisive figure, he also goes somewhere he is wanted.

When news leaked that the board were considering pursuing the former gaffer, the support responded positively. The naysayers have been relatively small in number, which is a phenomenon in itself in the days of social media extremes, when the most vocal contributors tend to be the most negative. But Levein is the man who laid the foundations for success and started the rebuild once before. Fans remember the good times, it’s the pain they want to forget.