Ian Cathro

Coaching career Youth coach After working as a local youth coach in Dundee, Cathro became the head of Dundee United's youth academy at the age of 22. During his time with Dundee United, he also worked for the Scottish Football Association's local youth programme.

Assistant manager In 2012, he became the assistant manager of Portuguese club Rio Ave. The two had first met at an SFA coaching course in Scotland in 2009.

A fortnight later, he agreed to join Premier League side Newcastle United as assistant to Steve McClaren, the recently appointed manager. When McClaren was sacked by Newcastle United in March 2016 and replaced by Rafa Benítez,

Heart of Midlothian Cathro was appointed head coach of Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian on 5 December 2016. The appointment caused some debate within Scottish football. Kilmarnock player Kris Boyd questioned whether such a young manager, with limited playing experience, could command the respect of the squad. Hearts performed poorly in the second half of the 2016–17 season, winning 5 of 22 league games after Cathro was appointed. Cathro was sacked. Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said that there appeared to be a "confused" approach at Hearts, with a mismatch between the style of play Cathro wanted to implement and the type of players signed by the club. After Cathro left, Hearts interim manager Jon Daly and player Cole Stockton claimed that the physical training under Cathro had lacked intensity.

Assistant to Nuno After almost a year out of football, Cathro was appointed first-team coach at Wolverhampton Wanderers in June 2018, linking up again with Nuno, who Cathro worked with in Portugal and Spain.

On 3 July 2021, Cathro followed former-Wolves manager Nuno to Tottenham Hotspur, becoming assistant head coach.

Cathro again followed Nuno when in the summer of 2022 the later was appointed as manager of Saudi club Al-Ittihad, with Cathro becoming First Team coach.

Estoril In July 2024 he was appointed head coach of Portuguese club Estoril. After a "difficult initial three months in charge", he won the league's Manager of the Month award in February 2025.

Saint-Étienne On 9 June 2026 he was appointed head coach of French club Saint-Étienne.

Managerial statistics

Honours Individual Primeira Liga Manager of the Month: January 2025, January 2026