EDDIE Howe expressed sympathy for axed Huddersfield boss Mark Robins and admitted that “closer scrutiny” was making management more difficult.

Robins left his role at the John Smith’s Stadium less than 24 hours after Cherries thumped the Terriers 4-0 in Saturday’s season-opening Championship clash.

Dean Court boss Howe was shocked to see Robins part ways with the West Yorkshire club just one match into the season and tipped him to bounce back in the long term.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “It was a real surprise. I don’t think you ever expect a manager to lose his job after just one game.

“I was very sad for Mark because I think he’s one of the really good managers in the league.

“He has got a really strong work ethic, he’s a very good coach and I admired the way he set his team up. Last year I thought Huddersfield were good to watch.

“It’s always disappointing when a manager loses his job.

“It’s such a cut-throat industry and I think we all have sympathy for each other.

“I wouldn’t have wished that on him and hopefully he will come back stronger for it.”

Howe insisted that football management was becoming tougher and said that sticking to principles was increasingly important in the current climate.

He added: “I think it does become more difficult to manage with the closer scrutiny we get from social media, from the radio, from everybody – it gets more and more intense.

“And then of course you can get an over-reaction from different quarters, so it is very difficult and it will only become more difficult as time goes by.

“Everyone has an opinion and I think that’s great. The difficulty for us is that, especially in defeat, everyone thinks they have the right answer.

“The key thing when you’re in the role is to ignore everyone and stick to what you think is right, because that’s what got you there in the first place.”