Rob Maclean: Five things we learned in the weekend's Scottish football
- Published
Rob Maclean continues his series assessing the main talking points from the weekend's football action.
Numbers don't add up for Cathro
It's the most damning statistic of them all for Ian Cathro.
Put together a Premiership table of results since he took over as head coach at Tynecastle nearly six months ago and you'll find that Hearts are bottom of the league.
Even the clubs who've been fighting against relegation have picked up more points than the 19 added by the Jambos since early December.
If you extend Cathro's record into all competitions, it's six wins from 26 matches in charge.
I said when he was appointed I hoped it worked out and I still do. But only some smart signings can save him now.
Boyce is hot property
Ross County will surely get an offer they can't refuse in the summer for the Premiership's top goalscorer Liam Boyce.
As a Staggies supporter, I'll be delighted if he sees out the last year of his contract in Dingwall, but you'd have to think that's highly unlikely.
A Boyce brace at Kilmarnock on Saturday meant he finished the campaign with 23 league goals, two more than Scottish Football Writers and PFA Scotland player of the season Scott Sinclair.
And it's when you think that County have mainly been operating in the lower reaches of the league that such a goals total is even more impressive.
Boyce will be loyal to the club that re-launched his career, but he's certain to be a transfer target for teams with a much bigger budget.
Inverness face a period of upheaval
As Ross County ended the season on a high note, top of the bottom six, Highland neighbours Inverness Caley Thistle toppled through the relegation trapdoor that's been waiting to swallow them up for months.
And you have to fear for their future. Nothing that's been said or done in recent times gives great hope that the team can make a speedy return to top flight football.
Their latest seven-year stint in the big league ended on a rain-sodden Saturday in the Highland capital when even a 3-2 home win against Motherwell, and nine points from their last four matches, wasn't enough to prevent the inevitable.
Will there be boardroom changes? Can the club get some badly-needed investment? Does Richie Foran have a future as manager? Which other players will follow Greg Tansey out the door?
There are more questions than answers in Inverness and the prospect of troubled times ahead.
Wright stuff is boost for Dons
Scott Wright's Firhill hat-trick won't affect Aberdeen's ambitious summer signing plans but he's certainly added to their top team options.
The 19-year-old winger grabbed the headlines in the 6-0 defeat of Partick Thistle in only his second start.
Manager Derek McInnes will clearly revert to his strongest team for the Scottish Cup final but he's much more likely now to give Wright a go off the bench after his weekend heroics.
Aberdeen will be trying to turn Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie's loan spell into a permanent arrangement and they'd love to bring Scottish international Shaun Maloney back to the city in which he grew up.
But there's a young Don on their doorstep who's now screaming out for more first-team football.
Brechin and Forfar upwardly mobile
Brechin City manager Darren Dods celebrates promotion to the Championship with his son
Angus was the place to be for a party on Saturday night as both Brechin and Forfar celebrated promotion play-off success.
Darren Dods' City had the most dramatic win, coming out on top against Alloa at Recreation Park in a penalty shootout after the teams shared eight goals in 210 memorable minutes.
Brechin will play in next season's Championship, ending an eight-year absence from Scottish football's second tier.
They'll be replaced in League One by their neighbours from 12 miles down the road, Forfar, who had no trouble in getting past Peterhead in their play-off final.
The Loons stormed to promotion on a 7-2 aggregate scoreline and have wiped away the memory of being relegated a year ago by bouncing straight back.