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.