Paul Hartley has been around football long enough to know that while things are going well for Cove Rangers just now, things can change quickly.
Cove are riding the crest of a wave just now, sitting five points clear at the top of League One and sealing progress in two national cup competitions in the last fortnight.
Their 3-0 defeat of Queen of the South on Tuesday night was their sixth win in an unbeaten run of nine games and they head into today’s game against Falkirk as the form team in the division.
Hartley, the League One manager of the month for November, acknowledges the club are in a good place just now. Their form is good and their performances are hitting a peak.
“It’s always a happy camp when you’re winning and playing well, so long may that continue,” he said. “There’s a good spirit among the players in the squad and the club.
“We want to continue that. We’ve got to keep working hard to continue that feeling.
“There’s a feel-good factor. You never know what’s round the corner in football, you can soon get derailed. But when you’re winning and playing well, confidence is high.
“We’ve all been involved in the game long enough to know things can change quickly. We’re in a good place at this moment in time and the players are full of confidence.”
An example of how things can change quickly in football comes in the shape of today’s opponents Falkirk.
The Bairns sacked manager Paul Sheerin, who was only appointed in the summer, on the back of a 6-0 defeat to Queen’s Park last weekend.
Falkirk are fifth in League One, nine points behind Cove, and come up against a former manager in Hartley this afternoon.
“They’ve been a bit up and down and changed their manager last week. They’ll get a reaction from their squad this week and we know we don’t just turn up and win the game,” he added.
“They’ll be wounded. They had a bad result last week, which can happen in football, but we’ve got to focus on ourselves.
“I probably was surprised (to see Sheerin go) as he was just in the job. But nothing surprises me in football anymore. Look at Jack Ross at Hibs with a cup final.
“It’s a brutal business we’re in. When things aren’t going too well, something can happen. I was a little surprised with Paul as he made a lot of changes in the summer and wasn’t given a lot of time.
“But this is just the nature of football now. We’ve all been there. It’s the manager that suffers the consequences – one person will go and it’ll always be the manager. We know the business we get into.”
Hartley seems to be getting something extra out of Cove midfielder Fraser Fyvie at the moment. Playing in a more advanced role, Fyvie has found the net five times in his last five games, as part of a challenge laid down to him by his manager to get more goals.
“I know he likes to drop deeper and control the game for us but I felt the type of runs he can make, there were more goals there for him,” added Hartley.
“I asked him how many goals he’d got through his career and it wasn’t a lot. So I said ‘why can you not get some more goals and be a bit more advanced in your position?’
“It was an outstanding goal on Tuesday night. It was a great strike and settled us into the game.”
Shay Logan, Iain Vigurs and Fin Robertson will be available again after missing the midweek win.