Tam Courts revealed how his trip to a Turkish barber turned into a delight for his Dundee United dressing room.
The Tannadice boss went for a haircut at the start of the international break – and his quite literal short back and sides had his players in stitches.
Now he hopes his team can cut Aberdeen down to size tomorrow.
Courts said of his new hairstyle: “It was very cold. I knew I wasn’t going to be in front of the cameras for a week or 10 days.
“People always ask what is the difference between a good and a bad haircut and I can tell them it is a week!
“Ryan Edwards laughs uncontrollably at everybody’s misfortune and he just couldn’t help himself when I walked in the first day after my dodgy haircut. He just started laughing. I don’t mind as that is the type of relationship we have with the players.
“We want to keep everyone upbeat and the boys are really excited about the game this weekend.”
Courts hopes United have more of a cutting edge tomorrow than they had when they lost 2-0 to Aberdeen at Pittodrie in the Premiership opener.
The way they have responded to that early set back has got the fans – and Courts – excited. He said: “There are 10 or 11,000 fans coming and it should be a cracker.
“There is a big appetite from the fans and I feel that’s a recognition of how strong the league is.
“You’d expect Rangers and Celtic to start putting some daylight between the rest but it is a really intriguing league, where everybody is beating everybody else.
“We are still looking at 16 points a quarter. We got 21 and 16 is the target for the second quarter. We just need to focus on what we’re doing, where we can improve and go for the three points.”
Charlie Mulgrew is set to return but Dylan Levitt is still a doubt.
Courts, who has signed Ghana kid Matthew Cudjoe, added: “Charlie will be back. Dylan is 50/50. We’ll give him up to the last minute.”
