Getting rid of Stubbs after just 14 games is ridiculous
SAYS NEIL LENNON
NEIL LENNON launched a passionate defence of his Hibernian predecessor Alan Stubbs yesterday, describing his dismissal by Rotherham as ‘ridiculous’ and criticising the cut-throat nature of the English Championship.
Stubbs lasted just five months and only 14 games at the New York Stadium. He joined the club after quitting his job at Easter Road on the back of lifting the Scottish Cup last season.
He claimed just one victory at Rotherham and, with the Millers marooned at the foot of the table, was axed on Wednesday along with his former Hibs lieutenants John Doolan and Andy Holden.
Stubbs had been handed a three-year deal at Rotherham and signed 13 players, including ex-SPFL regulars Will Vaulks, Scott Allan and Darnell Fisher.
But that counted for nothing following a nightmare start to the season.
‘I have volumes of sympathy for Alan Stubbs,’ said former Celtic teammate Lennon. ‘He goes in there after leaving a good legacy at Hibs and is given a three-year contract. Then, after 14 games he is gone. I don’t understand it.
‘What chance did he have to lay foundations or alter the style of play? I realise it’s a results-driven business, but it’s not only Alan — it’s guys like Roberto di Matteo or Paul Trollope who have gone even earlier. It’s just ridiculous.
‘Where does this leave the players he has brought in? You go there because you see Alan as someone you want to work with. Now they will have to start all over again.
‘I do think, given time, he would have turned it around. But we live in an atmosphere in football where if it’s not instant results then people turn on you very quickly. There’s no patience.
‘Alan had every right to believe he would be given the time to get it right. He signed a three-year contract to build something there, to change the club. People might shrug and say: “He’ll be alright, he’ll get paid up and get some money,” but that’s not the way he wants it. Like every manager, he wants to work. It’s their career.’
Lennon is speaking from experience, having endured a testing stint at Bolton Wanderers in a league which he pointedly describes as ‘not a good environment to work in’.
The Northern Irishman saved the club from relegation during his first season, but the Trotters plummeted down the table amid financial problems and broken promises in the subsequent campaign.
He left in March 2016 after a miserable 17 months and the club was relegated to League One.
Lennon cuts a relieved figure as he reflects on leaving English football to return north of the border.
‘It’s a culture of panic — and it’s not a good environment to work in,’ he said. ‘It becomes more and more stressful. You are analysed day-in, day-out, through social media and fans’ forums and it all builds and builds.
‘It snowballs so quickly when you are in that division. We’ll never know how it would have turned out, but I have a lot of sympathy for Alan and many other managers that have been victims of that.
‘You go in there with ideas and plans that, during the interview were supported. Then that support goes within three months.
‘Maybe we should be looking at the people who hire the managers and say: “It’s you that got it wrong”. Where’s their accountability?
‘But you have people coming in and throwing millions into reaching the “promised land” and if you don’t get immediate results, you’re out.’
Without the demands created by the millions on offer south of the border, Lennon firmly believes Scottish football provides a far more stable platform to develop coaches and build results.
He points at Premiership top-six regulars Derek McInnes at Aberdeen, St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright and Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson as prime examples of that ethos.
‘I don’t see many clubs up here readily hiring and firing managers and it is good that there’s a belief in what they are doing,’ he said. ‘Maybe it’s because there isn’t millions to chase.
‘I’d like to think Scottish football is more stable. In the main there is longevity for managers. Derek McInnes has been up at Aberdeen for a long time, Tommy Wright is doing great, and Robbie Neilson is in his third season at Hearts. These are stable clubs and environments — and look how it works.’