ALAN STUBBS does not think it is at all disrespectful, unlike Mark Warburton, to see his name linked with other clubs and instead views it as part of football and nothing to be taken too seriously.
In what was another example of the difference in personalities between the respective managers of Hibernian and Rangers, the man who is employed in the Capital treated being mentioned with the vacant Reading job with a shrug of those big shoulders, and if anything saw it as vindication of the job he is doing.
Stubbs had a twinkle in his eye as he spoke about speculation – although it be wrong to dismiss interest from any Championship side as merely that – and you could tell he enjoys all of this, which is very different from Warburton’s point of view in terms of Fulham being interested in him and what was written about the matter.
“It is what it is. It's the same with speculation surrounding my players. I can't comment on it because I don't know anything about it,” said Stubbs. “If you aren't doing well you don't get linked with jobs. If you're doing well you've got a better chance, or probably be more likely, to be linked with jobs – and that's all it is.
"I don't know where it's come from. I haven't heard anything, I would be the first to tell you. I'm not one to sit on the fence – but that's it. It doesn't concern me. My concern is my team.
"You can't have one without the other. If your team's doing well, your players start to raise the awareness of other teams. I'm just glad I've got good players and I'm not denying there's going to be teams interested in them.
"I would rather have clubs watching my team and try and buy them, rather than having no-one that anyone is interested in."
Stubbs enjoys life in Leith but that does mean he does not have ambition to manage at a higher level.
Now is that disrespectful to Hibs? Not really. The Liverpudlian is only being honest and football could do with a lot less bluster
“As a player, you want to play at the highest level and at the best clubs that are available." said Stubbs. "I'm not going to lie, I want to manage at the top level. I want to manage as high as possible.
"But this is a brilliant job at the moment. I'm only just into it and, in management and coaching terms, it's still relatively new. My main focus, and I know it's boring, is with Hibs and is with Falkirk on Saturday.
"I haven't achieved anything. I came in for my first season and we managed to stabilise, as I would probably describe the first season. We finished second in the league and I've got to be honest I think that was good progress.”
Stubbs is hugely quotable and his words on occasion do seem to have had an impact on Warburton. The Hibs manager is an intelligent guy and will know exactly what he’s doing.
Putting himself up as the polar opposite of the man he is directly up against, with all due respect to Falkirk the Championship is going to be won by Hibs and Rangers, is probably a good idea and certainly entertaining.
“I am what I am. I’ll give you a straight and honest answer,” he said. “That means I don’t have to answer in this or that way. I just go about my job as normal, the way you should do. Speculation is speculation. Look, I was linked with another job last month and the month before; I’m here.
“No manager is at a club forever. When will I move? I can’t answer that. It’s a question I like to answer but one I can’t. I don’t know. Hey, I could be sacked in January!”
Stubbs joked us reporters that he would tip us the wink if he was moving so we could get a bet on. As if anyone of the Fourth Estate would act so dishonourably.
He is probably not going anywhere soon but some of his players may well be lured next month. Again, this is not something which bothers him.
“I speak to them all the time about it. The thing is, there will only be speculation if they keep doing it on the pitch," said Stubbs. "Sometimes what happens is that you read the stuff and suddenly you take the foot off the pedal, and before you know it it’s gone – and you have to work again.
“My advice to them is to keep doing what they are doing, and getting even better clubs to be linked with. If it’s going to happen it will happen."
And one more time. So what would Stubbs do if a Championship did make an official offer?
"Why can’t it be the Premier League? Or even League One, if it’s the right club," he said.
“But I am happy here. I can’t speculate where my next job will be. It might be down the way. I hope not. You just don’t know in football. As long as I keep winning, that’s the most important thing."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel