THE gulf between English league football and Scottish league football has always been wide, in terms of the money sloshing around, the calibre of the players and the attendances. But it is surely wider now than ever before.

Take this example. Imagine that a manager of Manchester City or Chelsea decided that he wished for a new challenge and had just been afforded an opportunity that was simply “too good to turn down”. Not at Barcelona or Bayern, nor still at Arsenal. Nope, the irresistible offer had come from Rotherham United, a tiny club marooned perpetually in the bottom quadrant of the Championship, apart from when relegation rears its head, and with an average attendance that would fill a quarter of one stand at his current club. People would look askance at such a decision, I think.

Hibernian are Scotland’s fifth biggest club, in terms of attendances, behind Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen and their Edinburgh rivals, Hearts. Maybe sixth biggest in terms of silverware — behind Dundee. Four league titles, three-time winners of the Scottish Cup. It is true that for the last couple of seasons they have been playing in the Scottish Championship – one of the nastiest leagues in the world to get out of in an upwards direction, all the more so when you have Rangers alongside you. But still, Scotland’s fifth biggest club, at least.

Hibernian’s manager Alan Stubbs has announced he will be leaving Easter Road and Edinburgh for an offer which was “too good to turn down”. At Rotherham United. Stubbs had taken Hibs to their first Scottish Cup triumph in 114 years, beating Rangers 3-2 in the final. He had also shepherded the side to two successive playoff places. Hibs lost last season to Rangers, and this time around to the might of Falkirk, who themselves were defeated by Kilmarnock. Hibs will remain, then, the giants of the Scottish Championship and when they are inevitably promoted, sooner or later, will be giants in the Scottish Premier League too. So why did Stubbs go?

The remarkable thing is that the annual turnover at lowly Rotherham United is almost twice that of Hibernian - £11m versus £5.8m, according to the latest statistics. Even when Hibs were playing in the top tier their turnover was substantially lower than that of Rotherham’s. Indeed Rotherham’s turnover is substantially greater than that of Hearts, the third best supported club in Scotland after the two Glasgow giants.

And this is despite Rotherham’s average attendances being substantially lower than that of Hibs, Aberdeen or Hearts. It is television money which has created this weird anomaly, whereby Rotherham United might seem a more attractive proposition than Hibernian.

Wigan Athletic, in the third tier, enjoyed a turnover of almost six times that of Hibs – a consequence almost entirely of continuing parachute payments following their defenestration from the Premier League three years ago. Meanwhile, The Millers escaped relegation to the third tier this season as a consequence of the inevitably rejuvenating effect of appointing Neil Warnock as manager, just as the trapdoor was opening. With safety assured, Warnock declined to sign a new contract, saying: “I didn’t really look forward to the thought of 10 months of training there. And to be battling in the bottom half of the table.”

The training facilities are, according to Warnock, parlous and will come as a surprise to Stubbs. So welcome to South Yorkshire, Mr Stubbs. Warnock added that at least the new manager would have more money to play with than he had at Easter Road, but wondered — presumably jokingly — if maybe he could do a job swap, as he and his wife had always enjoyed the spectacular Scottish scenery and the city of Edinburgh in particular. Sad to say that this will most likely not occur: Hibs are already sizing up Neil Lennon, fresh from having catapulted Bolton Wanderers downwards to the third tier in one of the most ignominious relegations seen in recent years. And yet Bolton, too, enjoyed a turnover of £28m. Where there’s muck there’s brass.

No matter how talented a coach Stubbs might be — and his record at Hibs suggests the scouser is indeed adept, even if he didn’t get them to the Premiership (twice) — Rotherham are unlikely to set the division alight next season. I think it is fairly safe to predict that it will be a season of struggle once again. A good dozen or so clubs in the Championship next season will still be in receipt of parachute payments. How can Rotherham compete? Stubbs may find himself stymied by the very financial machinations which attracted him in the first place."

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