FORMER Celtic boss Neil Lennon revealed he has “volumes of sympathy” for his Hibs predecessor Alan Stubbs who has been sacked after just 14 games at Rotherham.
The ex-Hoops defender took charge of the Championship side only days after guiding the Easter Road side to their first Scottish Cup triumph in 114 years.
However, he was axed on Wednesday having won just one game, leaving the Yorkshire outfit five points adrift at the bottom of the league.
Lennon insisted Rotherham chairman Tony Stewart had acted too hastily. He said: “Alan 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 has he had to lay the foundations or alter the style of play? I realise it’s a results-driven business, but it’s not just Alan – it’s guys such as Roberto di Matteo, at Aston Villa, or Paul Trollope, at
Cardiff City, who have gone even earlier. It’s just ridiculous.”
Lennon, who saw his spell at Bolton end with the sack, believes that Stubbs would have turned around the fortunes of a club which finished fourth bottom of the Championship last season.
He added: “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, to change the club.
“People might 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.
“But we live in an atmosphere in football where if there are no instant results, then people turn on you quickly. There’s no patience.
“It’s a culture of panic and it’s not a good environment to work in. It becomes more stressful. You are analysed, day in, day out, through social media and fans’ forums and it all builds and builds.
“We’ll never know how it would have turned out for Alan, but I have a lot of sympathy for him and many other managers who have been victims.”
