IAN Cathro would rather not be the Hearts manager. His new job is the latest stop in a carefully cultivated coaching career that has spanned from youth development in his native Dundee to stints in Portugal, Spain and England. It all fits the profile of a football pioneer, the visionary who chose to bypass the traditional model of a decade or so of hard graft on the pitch to move straight into coaching. Little wonder he has been latched upon by those not sufficiently talented or physically capable of becoming professional players as the role model for an alternative route into management.

Cathro, though, did not plan it this way. The 30-year-old is the youngest of the SPFL’s 42 managers – beating fellow new boy Mark Wilson of Airdrieonians by two years - but, given a choice, he would still rather be playing now rather than being hailed as a progressive, forward-thinking coach.

Cathro was a midfielder in the youth systems of Forfar Athletic and Brechin City before a knee injury ended his prospects of making it in the game. His subsequent coaching career has, therefore, come largely as a second thought, rather than his grand plan along.

“If I could have played for 10 years before becoming a coach I'd have loved it,” he admits during an engaging chat at Hearts’ training base that further dispelled the theory that he is some sort of programmed automaton with a whistle, unable to hold a conversation with another human being.

“Some people might say it's because I didn't have the quality – but I'll say it's because I had a bad knee! I'd have been a midfielder who didn't like running too much but told people where to go. So I’m not a flag-bearer for young coaches. That’s not the case. I respect and understand the different qualities and experiences that people have from coming through different ways and being at different stages in their careers. I fully appreciate that. And if I could have had [more time as a player] I would have loved it, but I didn’t.

“There really isn’t going to be anything radical happening. I might be disappointing people but there’s no radical aspect to this. I get that it’s intriguing because it’s different and it’s unexpected. There’s going to be a reaction to that. But I honestly don’t consider myself as being particularly radical.

“Evolving things through time – definitely. I may have some ideas about where we’d like to be able to get to, but I’m very aware that certain things have to happen before that. So it’s a calm thing. It’s an evolution of ideas. There is no book: ‘From here on in thou shalt…’ No. Easy, easy.”

What must have felt like a devastating setback at the time for a young player would soon provide the platform for Cathro to embark on an alternative journey, one that has led him to Tynecastle where the latest chapter will now unfold. He has a halting, often exaggerated way of speaking that seems to mimic Jose Mourinho, perhaps a legacy of his two years spent in Portugal with Rio Ave. But there are other aspects of a life spent overseas – that also included time with Valencia in Spain – that have stuck with him upon his return to Britain, first at Newcastle and now at Hearts.

“Because my first proper job was abroad I probably did two things at once - getting to see and feel what it was like to be in another culture, and also what it was like to work with professional footballers,” he said. “It slowed me down. I probably calmed down quite a bit and learned to think a bit better. You also learn how to have a conversation better when you can’t have that conversation! When language stops you, you learn how to converse and share ideas with people. That would be the main thing.

“It [his first head coach post] could have been elsewhere but it's natural here [at Hearts]. Home is always home. But if the language skills had become strong enough, I'd have felt OK in Portugal.”

The strongest evidence of Cathro’s coaching capabilities remain John Souttar and Ryan Gauld, two players he worked closely with during his years in Dundee. Souttar is now one of his charges at Hearts, while Gauld is still in Portugal trying to enhance his career on loan at Vitoria Setubal from Sporting.

Cathro recalled the two players’ early days and, somewhat unconvincingly, waved away the idea that he and Gauld could yet be reunited in Edinburgh any time soon.

“My early thoughts were that I knew they would get better but even then all we wanted to do was work and push the kids further,” he said. “It was all focused on that. You live in the moment. There was no real identification or projection that something was going to happen. Through time you start to get a feel as people grow and develop.

“It was about working in the present and trying to make them better. I was doing my best to help them but they were also doing their best. And their families were doing most of all to support them and get them to the places they needed to be – they were giving them the best chance.

“The sense of pride belongs in their family homes. For me there was a bit of job satisfaction of course because it was a good time but there was no deep thing. That belongs to the boys and their families.

“What's important for Ryan is that I've been impressed by how strong he's been with himself. That will be invaluable to him in life and in his football career.

“He's at a point where he's starting to break into the Vitoria Setubal side. I watched one of the games and he's being asked to do different things. He's had to change aspects of his play which he's done well. He has to do the right things for himself.

“I don't know if I'll ask the question [about Gauld signing for Hearts]. It hasn't crossed my mind yet. But if everything is right for everyone – no matter who it is – you'd look into it. But it doesn't really align right now.”

Cathro’s vitality and youth would seem to make it easier for him to bond with his players but he does not intend to become overly familiar with his Hearts squad too quickly.

“That’s something that also has to be natural. If I just meet you and say: ‘Tell me about your wife and kids.’ That would be a bit weird. These have to be natural things that come through time.

“But player and person – it’s the same thing. Life affects football and football affects life, it’s all one. We go step-by-step, we get to know each other day-by-day. These things will be natural things. Everybody has to feel comfortable. We’ll work together, we’ll share together, we’ll grow bit-by-bit. But it has to be calm and nurturing.”