Gary Rowett would enter the Leicester City hot seat in mid-February with a glowing reputation in the EFL for being just the sort of manager you can rely on when times are tough.
Indeed, before being unexpectedly relieved of his duties at Birmingham City, Rowett would consistently deliver top-half finishes for the Blues in the tough division.
More recently, too, he would steer Oxford United to safety at the close of last campaign, with a respectable nine wins from 25 league clashes collected.
With his past playing experience for the Foxes on his side, as well, it felt as if this mid-season appointment had all the makings of being a stable one that ensured Leicester wouldn't fall victim to the horrible fate of back-to-back relegations.
Unfortunately, though, Rowett proved he wasn't the perfect fit at all...
The disastrous reign of Rowett
While he rescued the U's dying 2024/25 campaign, he ultimately put the nail in Leicester's calamitous season, when he was handed the reins after Marti Cifuentes was given the boot.
Rowett would only manage to collect two wins from 14 games in charge during the back half of the season, with eight draws along the way not helpful whatsoever, as the Midlands giants needed wins, not draws, to mount an escape from relegation.
His Foxes team would put in boring, lifeless displays, as opposed to energetic and determined performances, with only 14 goals scored across this depressing patch of matches.
It's no real surprise that the one-time Premier League champions look to be heading in a fresh direction, ahead of the League One season getting underway, with the likes of Darren Ferguson linked to the vacant hot seat.
Rowett could somehow fail upwards, past his wretched Foxes stint, as he has been tipped to take on the Blackburn Rovers job, now Michael O'Neill has announced he won't be continuing on as the Riversiders boss.
Blackburn would be downgrading appointing Rowett
Leicester would have been in far safer hands as they attempted to get out of their relegation hole if they had decided to appoint O'Neill instead of Rowett.
Strangely, the Lancashire outfit would announce the Northern Irishman as their manager in mid-February, with it being confirmed that the 56-year-old would manage both his nation and Blackburn at the same time.
He didn't look out of his depth doing both of these jobs, either, with five wins collected from 15 games in charge, easing Blackburn's relegation worries. When he was first appointed, the one-time Premier League winners were sitting in the relegation zone, on goal difference, with O'Neill's impact clear for all to see.
Replacing O'Neill with a manager who couldn't offer this same impact at King Power feels like a misstep on Blackburn's end, with only seven wins amassed over his last 37 games in the challenging league, hardly making him an inspired appointment that will get a rattled fanbase back on side, who were anticipating that the Portadown-born manager would stick around.
Rowett would jump at the chance to be handed the Ewood Park reins, you imagine, as it would give him a great chance to repair his fractured reputation.
But, surely Blackburn could be a little more ambitious, with Leicester turning down the chance to give him the job on a more permanent basis in League One, surely a sign that he's a has-been from the dugout.
Add us as a preferred source on Google