STUART McCall has found a stable job to fill the time while he looks for another crack at club management.
But mucking out his daughter's horses is not the daily routine that he had in mind.
"Every day she'll tell me 'Dad, get out of the house and get a job'," laughed McCall. "But I'm too busy mucking her horses out. I'm getting quite good at it now, so she shouldn't complain!"
It is just over two months since the Bradford City legend called time on his four-year stint in charge of Motherwell and he's getting itchy feet.
As much as he loves his role as Scotland's number three, and was at Hampden Park for a catch-up with Gordon Strachan this week, McCall misses the full-time buzz of being his own club boss.
He said: "I could have taken over a Scottish Premier club not long after leaving Motherwell but I didn't see the point at the time. I wanted a little break.
"I thought I'd enjoy Christmas and New Year being off with the family and then look at things again.
"It was nice in a way, not having the pressure and strain of having to prepare from one game to the next. But I also missed that involvement.
"I'll just have to wait and see what comes up. Sometimes these opportunities can appear when you don't expect them.
"I don't want to get back in just for the sake of it. But then there are that many managers out of work, you also can't afford to pick and choose for too long.
"It's difficult coming from (a club in) Scotland. Look at Neil Lennon going from Celtic but he had to take a Championship job.
"Bolton are a big club in their own right but they were in the bottom three when Neil took over. So realistically I think I would be looking at League One.
"Certain things have come up and my agent has asked me about them and I've just thought 'that's not really for me'.
"But the bottom line is I'm still hungry enough and have still got that drive to want to get back into management."
Incredibly, it will be five years next month since McCall made an emotional exit from the Valley Parade hot-seat. He took over at Motherwell at the end of 2010.
It heralded a very successful period for the Steelmen, with a place in the Scottish Cup final in his first season and three second-placed finishes.
But with the budget repeatedly slashed and the drain of constantly losing his best players, McCall conceded he was fighting a losing battle.
"Take the Old Firm out, and I know you can't do that, and we won the league three years on the trot, which is unheard of," he said.
"I had the best record of any Motherwell manager in history. But I wanted to have a crack in the cup this year.
"I knew it would be tougher because we'd lost more players but when we'd got to the final, it was the first time in over 20 years and I fancied a bit more of that.
"Unfortunately it didn't happen and we got knocked out on penalties by Hamilton – Rammers (Simon Ramsden) missed one of them.
"It became harder after that and I probably lost a bit of my motivation.
"I came into the season knowing we hadn't got the team to compete like we had before before. Then we had a poor start and, after losing in the cup, I knew it was going to be a battle just to survive.
"I got asked a lot why I didn't leave last summer, when I could have done, but it's hard to walk away when you are enjoying something.
"The staff and players were great and I was sad to leave them as I did. But I felt it was the best thing to do."
McCall has kept himself busy with TV work both sides of the border – he watched the Bantams win at Halifax as part of the BT Sport coverage – and scouting missions for Strachan.
He clearly relishes being part of the national set-up as they bid to qualify for Euro 2016 – and Scotland's first major finals for nearly two decades.
Strachan appreciates his input – and name-checked McCall for coming up with the corner routine which led to the winner over Ireland in November.
McCall said: "That was a bit embarrassing but he has been very good. I never really knew Gordon before, so for him to invite me to be part of the coaching team was terrific.
"I've found we are very similar in a lot of ways. You hear him speak about things on the telly and I'm thinking the same.
"We play Gibraltar at home next in March and expect to win that. But if Germany win against Georgia and Ireland beat Poland, you'll have four teams all on ten points at the halfway stage.
"We've done well so far but it will be just like starting again. It's going to be that tight.
"It's great to be involved in but if I do get another job, I'd probably have to forego the Scotland thing. That's a bit of a dilemma for me.
"You just don't know what's round the corner. But I do want to get back."
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