Craig Levein has offered sympathy to Robbie Neilson after the Hearts boss was sacked - though he still alluded to the fact that some of the Tynecastle faithful 'didn't like' the recently-fired Jambos boss.
Hearts parted company with Neilson following almost three years in charge after tumbling to five defeats in six - despite the former player winning the Championship, recording a third-placed finish in the Scottish Premiership and boasting a spot in the Europa Conference League group stages during his tenure. There were also two Scottish cup finals.
After sacking Jim Goodwin and making Barry Robson boss until the end of the season, Aberdeen have climbed above them in the table, seeing Hearts slip to fourth And whilst Levein felt sorry for Neilson, he couldn't shake the feeling that this is simply how football clubs operate nowadays. He told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast: "Well, it's quite sad really that managers, for me, are the time that they get in the job is becoming shorter and shorter. Tolerance levels are becoming shorter as well from supporters.
"I know that for Robbie, there was an element of the support that didn't particularly like him or the way that he played, and the best that he could do when things were going well was keeping quiet. As soon as things stated to go wrong to any degree, then they perked it up and made their displeasure known.
"Robbie was always for me, four or five losses away from being in trouble and to be fair, that's the way it is now - as a manager you have to accept it. There was a time when you had money in the bank if you did a good job and that would allow you to get more time if things had turned against you or you had injury problems and such, and you couldn't string a good set of results together.
"But honestly, now, if you go five games without winning then you're in trouble - especially at a club where the expectations are reasonably high, and I would count Hearts in that."
Since Neilson departed, Steven Naismith has been thrust into the hot seat - with his first game coming in the Edinburgh derby this coming weekend. Levein has backed the introduction of the former Scotland star.
He added: "I think that Hearts have looked at the situation at Aberdeen and thought, 'we've got Barry Robson in the dressing room here in the shape of Steven Naismith', and perhaps he can do the same thing that Barry is doing.
"Really, this is about one thing and one thing alone - that is qualifying again to the European stage and to try on an annual basis to have five or six million pounds or more coming in through the group stages. That's what this is about.
"It's about the longevity of the European run, they need to year upon year get that. What will happen is once they manage to get that three season in a row, they will play better and there is every chance they will get more money. That is where Hearts are aiming to be."
