Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce believes the sacking of Mark Hughes at Manchester City was the 'ultimate sacrifice' after players ignored a duty to perform for their former boss.
Allardyce thinks that the expensively-assembled squad at Eastlands failed to live up to their high salaries and as a result cost their manager his job, with Roberto Mancini immediately appointed as a replacement on Saturday.
The Blackburn chief is disappointed for Hughes and does not think it is fair that the manager is always the one to be fired.
Allardyce said: "It looks like player performances have been the key issue rather than results.
"It looks like that has been the ultimate problem for Mark and that's very, very disappointing when he's gone out and he's brought those players to a club like that with huge amounts of money, not just in transfer fees but also in salaries.
"These are the sort of salaries they would never get anywhere else in the world of football in their entire careers.
"They had an obligation to have done and given more and from afar it looks like they haven't done so.
"That to me looks like it's triggered the ultimate sacrifice which is the manager - we are always the first to get chopped and that's a great shame."
Allardyce added that Hughes, who left Blackburn 18 months ago to take over at City, had not been given enough time.
"He will be frustrated because it's never happened to him before, it's his first one which is always more difficult," he said.