So, a first managerial casualty of the Scottish football season before a ball has been kicked in the league in anger.

Hearts part company with Ian Cathro ahead of the new Scottish Premiership season, with the Edinburgh club revealing that they'll provide a further update tomorrow on their "management plans".

We'll keep you up to date on any further developments from the Edinburgh club, with Tom English to file his thoughts later...

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Michael Harrison: Feel sorry for him but it had to happen, Levein should also go but glad they've kept Austin MacPhee.

Michael Stewart
Former Hearts captain and now BBC Sport Scotland pundit

"It was just a matter of time, quite clearly Saturday’s result was the defining game. But there’s a bigger picture here. To a certain extent I feel sorry for Ian Cathro, he was so clearly not adequate for the job and his shortcomings were clear for everybody to see.

"The bigger picture for me is the management structure above that put Ian Cathro in the position because it was such a glaring mistake. It was a guy who was drowning in the position he was in and I look up above him and he seemed to get very little support publicly from his boss, and his boss has now fired him. How can sacking a head coach days before the start of the season not draw the question of how did he see this as a good appointment?

"You’ve given him the summer, recruited players, given him pre-season to work with players and sack him days before the start of the league season. That is an indictment on the judgement of that director of football."

Hearts' director of football Craig Levein has yet to comment on today's developments.

Douglas Bell: I think he has a good future in football, but we live In the here and now, and 4 wins in 26 games wasn't going to help his cause.

James Campbell: Didn't get a chance!

Evan Macdonald: Only surprise is that the club didn't take this decision at the end of last season.

Colin Darroch: One of the worst appointments of all time? Good that Hearts took action before the league started, it gives them some chance of having a decent season.

Harry Hardman: Gary Locke for me!! Give the guys chance with no strings attached to him

Stuart Menzies: Hearts are a good club. But Ian Cathro seemed way out of his depth here. A good coach doesn't make a good manager. Good luck to whoever comes in, they're gonna need it.

Michael Stewart
Former Hearts captain and now BBC pundit

"I would like to see Steven Pressley brought in. Steven has a good relationship with Craig Levein, but I’m still not convinced that he would take the job in the current circumstances.

"Steven’s had a number of difficult jobs. He’s picked good clubs at bad times and he’s in a position where the Hearts job would be wonderful for him and he would be a fantastic manager for Hearts.

"He’s a person of real stature, he has a presence, and I’ve seen first-hand how he is with people, man-management, and he’s a very good coach as well. He’d be an ideal appointment for Hearts..."

"A further statement will be made tomorrow in relation to management plans for this weekend’s Ladbrokes Premiership match against Celtic and longer term," says the club.

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Former Hearts captain Steven Pressley is the 4/1 favourite to take over as manager of the Edinburgh club, according to Scottish Premiership sponsors Ladbrokes.

Pressley, 43, has turned down offers to manage in Scotland since leaving Fleetwood Town last year.

He previously managed Falkirk and Coventry City.

• 4/1 Steven Pressley
• 5/1 Paul Hartley
• 10/1 Gary Naysmith
• 10/1 Allan Johnston
• 12/1 Jim McIntyre
• 12/1 Tommy Wright
• 16/1 David Weir
• 20/1 Alan Stubbs
• 20/1 Alex McLeish
• 20/1 Terry Butcher
• 25/1 Ronny Deila

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Speaking on Monday, Hearts captain Christophe Berra says the first four league games of the season are "make or break" for the Edinburgh club.

Hearts' first four Premiership games are away to Celtic, Kilmarnock, Rangers and Motherwell.

"These games make you or break you and hopefully they're going to be the making of us," Berra said.

The 32-year-old reckons that, following a tough week in the League Cup. there is "no better game to bounce back" in than away to champions Celtic on Saturday.

"At the end of the [Dunfermline] game, the fans weren't happy, first and foremost, and the players can sense that," Berra said.

"It's not just on the manager, it's the players as well, we're not getting results. We're the ones who cross that white line.

"We're the ones on the pitch, not taking chances or making mistakes that lose the game. So, in the end, the responsibility lies on the players and we need to do better as well."

Tom English
Chief sports writer, BBC Scotland

"Tynecastle was an angry place on Saturday in the wake of Hearts' exit from the Betfred Cup. The thunder screamed out of the stands at Ian Cathro who cut a lonely figure as he exited the stage for what turned out to be the last time. Maybe he knew in his heart of hearts that the game was up. When your own fans turn against so completely then there's nowhere to go but the exit door.

"Cathro's appointment was a gamble worth taking, but clearly it's been an awful failure. Over the course of his reign Hearts have performed like relegation fodder instead of a side trying to push towards European football. There isn't a single thing you can offer in his defence. This experiment had to end."

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