Alan Stubbs: Brendan Rodgers will regret leaving Celtic, like I regret leaving Hibs

It didn’t take Alan Stubbs long to realise that he had made a monumental mistake in choosing to swap Hibernian for Rotherham, and the former Celtic defender believes Brendan Rodgers will also regret his decision to head south.

Stubbs, 45, quit Hibs in 2016, just 10 days after ending the club’s 114-year wait to win the Scottish Cup.

Four months and just 13 Championship fixtures later, Stubbs was dismissed by Rotherham. A spell in charge of St Mirren at the start of this season was even shorter and no more successful, leaving him pining for the good old days in the capital and he’s certain that Rodgers will soon come to lament his decision to walk out on Celtic when they were only 14 games away from completing a third successive Treble.

“I think that, over time, Brendan will regret leaving when he did,” said Stubbs, who will return to Easter Road tonight as a pundit for Premier Sports. “It’s probably the same with my situation at Hibs; as time goes on you do regret making certain decisions.

“Managers sometimes make impulsive decisions. They can make good impulsive decisions and wrong impulsive decisions. Right now Brendan will have his reasons for leaving but, to the people on the outside, the majority will think that he has made the wrong decision.

“Brendan’s image has been damaged in terms of his rapport with the Celtic supporters. Regarding Brendan as a manager, only time will tell; it may have damaged that as well.

“The fact that he also chosen to move to a mid-table team. I know Leicester won the title in 2016 but that was a once-in-a lifetime achievement.

“Realistically, if you look at Leicester as a club they are - at best - an eighth position team and, more often that not, they’re going to be ninth, tenth or eleventh.

“That is what surprised me most about Brendan’s move. If Mauricio Pochettino left to go to Real Madrid then there may have been a possibility of the Tottenham job. There are other clubs that you would have thought may have come calling for Brendan if he had waited.”

* Alan Stubbs was speaking at a William Hill event. William Hill is a proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.