Club forward
And lead Saints onward to glory
from the outset. A poor start to the season simply added to the stresses and strains of a position that he had already began to regret taking.
Three months later, Stubbs was sacked, following just one win in 14 games. He said: “Everything going into that job just seemed rushed. “It was difficult. “There wasn’t a lot of staff there and I found myself getting pulled from pillar to post doing the wrong things when I should have been out on the grass more often than not.
“I just felt like I had to basically rebuild a club, which for me was quite surprising considering it was a Championship club.
“The grass isn’t always greener south of the border but I had made my decision. It is like everything, once you have certain experiences you become wiser and you appreciate the important things – what is right.
“Now I have had that experience, I certainly won’t be in a rush going forward. From my point of view, I have learned a considerable amount despite it not being a positive experience.
“This is only my third job, but in some ways I see it as only my second job because I was only at Rotherham for three months – it was like part-time.
“You just move on and I am delighted for them that they have gone back up.
“It would be easy for me to pin the blame on them but there is no point. It didn’t work out for whatever reason and I am delighted to be sitting here again with another opportunity with a football club that is where it should be.”
But despite having had to settle for being out of work for the past 20 months, Stubbs insists it hasn’t always been a bad thing.
Keeping his hand in with media work for BT Sport, he revealed that he won’t have any need to brush up on his knowledge of Scottish football.
He heads back north to a league that he knows well, but has never worked in as a manager.
However, Stubbs says it is an exciting prospect as the league continues to garner attention from further afield following the appointments of Brendan Rodgers and Steven Gerrard.
He added: “I think the profile of the league is certainly going in one direction and that is up.
“I don’t think it is just the fact that Steven Gerrard came in this summer.
“I think it dates back to when Brendan came in a couple of years ago. That was the catalyst for that. “When you see Steve Clarke, that was obviously another one. “Steven choosing to dip his toes in the water at a massive club means suddenly that the broadcasters are giving more time to the Scottish Premiership.
“That is great and can only help, and also generate more money and sponsorship.
“It is probably the strongest Premiership there has been for a number of years.
“What it has done is make everything more competitive which is what everybody wants to see.”