It's impossible not to feel sorry for Pat Fenlon though we can also say the same of Hibernian who are closing in on their 10th manager in 16 years.

That lack of stability at Easter Road cannot be overlooked and the sadness here is that Fenlon, who was in charge for almost 90 games, had begun to turn things around.

Certainly he’s an honourable man — he said his resignation was “100 per cent” his own decision, based on a need to take himself “out of the firing line to help everybody else.”

Very few managers in gainful employment would have the guts to utter such words. Fenlon — an admirable but innately conservative coach — rightly or wrongly concluded he was not up to the job, though I doubt he will be out of the game for long.

Fans will tell you that the Irishman never really recovered from the 5-1 drubbing against Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final of 2012, by common consent the worst result in the club’s history.

There’s truth in that assessment, but much more important was the defeat to their old rivals a week ago. Being sunk in the quarter-finals of the League Cup made it two losses out of two against the Jambos this season.

You see the feeling in Leith — understandably — is that Hearts are on their knees on and off the pitch with myriad troubles and, if they can’t be dominated now, then Hibs might as well shut up shop for good.

Looking through a lens, the dark shadow of 1990 remains. Wallace Mercer — in the teeth of fierce resistance — failed in his attempt to buy Hibs and effectively see Hearts put them out of existence.

Those scars still itch from time to time and since then the capital team of the capital has, more often than not, been “the boys in maroon.” Yes, Hibs reached consecutive Cup finals under Fenlon, but that wasn’t really enough.

Boil it down and Hibees just stopped believing they had the man to take them to the next level — look no further than the 7-0 mauling by Malmo at the season’s outset.

Few coaches would retain the full confidence of the punters after such ignominy. Since then there had been a growing feeling that the manager was performing something of a high wire act.

The new broom — in all likelihood Terry Butcher who has done such a good job at Inverness Caledonian Thistle — will inherit a solidly mid-table side with potential and a fair chance a top-six finish.

Let us not forget that this is a much improved state of affairs than the relegation dogfight that Fenlon inherited. One wonders what he could have done had he allowed himself more time.

Celtic are no European lightweights no matter what happens in Holland

We will know much more about Celtic’s chances of progressing beyond the Champions League group stages after tonight’s dust-up against Ajax in Amsterdam.

No matter what, Neil Lennon’s men will not be out of the picture. Win and they are in the box seat to make the knockout stages for the second successive season. Draw and hope is retained. Lose and a helping hand will be required.

Big matches call for top players and the Hoops boss has had a constant battle in Europe this season in respect of personnel. Joe Ledley, Adam Matthews, Kris Commons and Derk Boerrigter have all struggled for fitness at times.

Throw into the mix the loss of Scott Brown through suspension tonight, and against AC Milan in Glasgow, and you have to conclude that escaping from Group H would be one of the greatest achievements in Celtic’s long European history.

If it all proves too much there’s still plenty to be positive about. The fact is Celtic are now really showing signs of being more than able to do the fandango with the continent’s leading lights. Take, for instance, the win against Ajax. OK, the Dutch are not the masters of old, but goodness me they are still technically superb on the ball.

At Parkhead they retained possession and moved beautifully through midfield. Lennon’s sublime tactics allowed this — for his side were focused instead on closing down space on the flanks, where Ajax are normally so effective.

It worked a treat, nullifying the masterplan of a certain Frank de Boer who is regarded as one of the brightest young coaches around. More of the same tonight and we may be talking of Lennon in similar tones.

Bravehearts put rugby league on Scotland’s map

If you have not been watching you will have at least caught a flavour from daily sports bulletins. The rugby league World Cup is in full swing and Scotland are having a fairly decent time of it.

The Bravehearts are unbeaten in Group C after narrowly defeating Tonga and then drawing against Italy in Workington, with Super League Man of Steel Danny Brough among the stars.

The League code is no best-seller north of its traditional English industrial heartlands, but it is certainly growing in Scotland via the Central and the North leagues.

Sadly coach Steve McCormack knows his boys are unlikely to qualify for the quarter-finals, but they have brought excitement and atmosphere to the tournament and enhanced their reputation no end.

Follow Douglas Beattie on Twitter