Shocked Daniel Stendel has detailed the moment he discovered Hearts had wielded the axe on his reign as manager.
But the German clearly isn't one for holding grudges as he joked his sacrifice in foregoing wages since the lockdown has paid for Robbie Neilson's return!
Stendel was eased out of the relegated Premiership club to make way for the return of former United boss Neilson and Tynecastle owner Ann Budge later paid tribute to Stendel's time at the club, which lasted just six months.
But although Stendel admitted he loved his time in Edinburgh, he admitted he was surprised when he heard about Neilson's appointment and revealed Hearts had to apologise for him discovering his own fate elsewhere.
He said: "I found out about the appointment of a new manager on Sunday night.
"Communication was certainly not the best in this case, but since then several people have apologised to me. This does not damage the positive image I have of the club."
And Stendel, in an interview in a German newspaper, was asked if he was angry to find out that Hearts had paid compensation to United despite him not accepting his wages since March. He stated: "Then I even paid for my successor!
"Seriously, I'm not going to look back. I made this decision with full conviction to support my club. I have no regrets about that. I am at peace with myself and the club."
Former Barnsley boss Stendel had a clause in his contract allowing either him or the club to terminate the agreement in the event of relegation, which is still pending with a legal challenge due.
And he explained: "When I signed the contract, I had already decided not to go into the Championship if the worst came to the worst.
"But since our relegation wasn't under regular circumstances and especially because I got to know Hearts as a really great club, I then offered, under certain conditions in terms of staff and philosophy, to stay anyway.
"However, this became increasingly unlikely lately, the things mentioned could not be fulfilled and there were simply too many question marks. For example, nobody knows when games can start again. Maybe in October, but you definitely don't want to start without fans.
"I started at Hearts in December which certainly wasn't a good time to begin. We had four defeats from the first five games.
"But we changed the style, improved the points deficit and saw a positive trend. I was convinced we would stay up after the split. There were 24 points left to play for and we were only four points behind.
"I'm sure we could have done it, but unfortunately we will never know now."
And Stendel will take plenty of happy memories back to Germany after revealing he will return to Scotland to pick up his belongings soon.
He said: "We beat Rangers twice, but our problem was the games against the smaller teams. The success against Steven Gerrard were absolute highlights, as was the 3-1 derby win at Hibs.
"It's a great rivalry - purely sporting, without riots and police operations. It was simply a great experience. In general, I was very positively surprised by Scottish football. Not necessarily the level, but the mentality, the fans, the whole atmosphere.
"I returned to Germany in March and intended to come back to Scotland in early April. As a result, I took hardly anything with me. But I have sold my flat in Scotland and need to clear it out. I have to stay in quarantine for 14 days, so I'll sit in my flat for two weeks and fly back with my things.
"I paid for my flat for five months and lived in it for about one month....my landlord will also have a very pleasant memory of me!
"For the future, I see myself at a club that is enthusiastic, has fan potential and sports ambitions. There are enough of these in Germany too, but I remain open to everything.
"One thing is clear, my previous experience abroad has been a benefit for me in many ways."
