The fear factor did for Stubbs at Rotherham
I’m sure Alan Stubbs is taking a few days to reflect on where it all went wrong for him as manager of Rotherham.
In the space of five months, he went from Cup-winning hero at Hibs to zero at the Millers.
I’m not sure it will be any consolation to him, but it’s the money madness in English football that has led to his downfall.
The average lifespan of a Championship manager is less than a year – and clubs get more ruthless by the month.
That’s why my pal Neil Warnock is earning himself so much as the Red Adair of the division.
Clubs are terrified of relegation and moving further away from the promised land of the Premiership.
They call in Neil to keep them up and provide them with a bit of breathing space.
He’s currently beginning to work his magic at Cardiff City.
Stubbs took a bit of a gamble himself when he decided to leave Scotland and take over at the New York Stadium.
I’m sure he has ambitions to be a Premier League boss but he was never going to make the leap from Hibs straight into England’s top division.
He led the Edinburgh club to victory in the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years and did a very decent job at Easter Road.
The reality, however, is that decision-makers at the top English clubs are normally looking for achievements at a higher level.
Rotherham are hardly Real Madrid but Stubbs obviously hoped they could provide him with a platform to advance his career.
As a manager, you have to at least be getting to the Championship play-offs before Premier League clubs will take a look.
Eddie Howe was regarded as a really-talented coach but I doubt he’d have made it to the top if he hadn’t taken Bournemouth there.
The owners at Rotherham have taken fright.
They had only taken six points from 13 matches and immediately people started mentioning relegation.
That was all the board needed to hit the panic button.
The strange thing is that although there’s a massive amount of money swilling about, you’re not guaranteed to get a huge chunk of it as a manager.
I know of one Championship club who were in negotiations with a potential boss earlier in the year.
There was talk of him earning a salary that wasn’t far off £1-million a year.
Talks were going well until another manager found himself looking for a new post and agreed to take it for a third of that amount.
That doesn’t mean the team in question will show any great loyalty to the man they appointed.
In fact, they’re probably more likely to fire him as soon as a sticky spell comes along.
Nobody gets the chance to develop a youth policy or make slow, steady progress.
Alan Stubbs’ only hope is that other clubs don’t see him as damaged goods after the quickfire sacking at Rotherham.
Meanwhile, 67-year-old Neil Warnock continues to prosper as the footballing equivalent of a locum doctor.
He comes in, cures a short-term problem and then moves on after being well rewarded for his efforts.
It’s nice work if you can get it!
Don’t miss the people’s pundit every week As a boss, you have to get to the Championship play-offs before Premier clubs will take a look