I doubt if Dougie was ever a contender for the Hearts job.

He and his family are settled here, and he had bad experiences in management at Bolton and Forest.

He’s certainly not in the bookies’ top ten for the job.

Jack Ross is 2/1 and Gary Holt is 4/1.

Higher odds are being offered for Scot Gemill, David Moyes, Stuart McCall, Michael O’Neill, Paul Hartley, Steve Robinson and Steven Pressley.

There’s no reason to believe that Dougie is not doing a good job at Palace, inevitably with tight budgetary constraints.

Also he seems to be relatively secure - and he would forfeit that if he returned to the ups and downs of day-to-day management.

It would be interesting to know more about his job description and how he has been contributing.

I understand your sentiments and of course he was vilified for the action he took.

I believe the point I was making was that he didn't desert a 'sinking ship' and departed for a club much lower in the table so I suppose he took a bit of a gamble.

We of course were promoted the season he left so perhaps some might opine that having left us in 4th place, this provided the platform for our promotion.

And let’s not forget Pulis’ impeccable timing.