McKie said in The Times: "Results have been poor, form has been erratic and performances disappointing.
"Competitiveness has been lacking and there has also been a lack of spirit in this team. The deterioration in the Celtic League position has not helped and the Heineken Cup record speaks for itself — one win since 2002 is not good enough.
"It was not a snap decision, it was something that Hugh [Campbell] and I have been discussing for two or three months. Spirit was decreasing and attracting players to Glasgow with these background factors had become more difficult. We had discussed the need for improvement but nothing much had changed."
Glasgow skipper Jon Petrie said: "It has hit a lot of the players hard that there are people's livelihoods and jobs at stake. We need to take responsibility for that as players and turn things round. The buck has to stop somewhere, and that has to be on Hugh's shoulders, but the players must take a massive amount of responsibility for what has happened and now we have to help Sean to change things."
JP has personal experience of how a change in coaching can quickly inspire a demotivated side, having been the first captain when Frank Hadden took over the national side from Matt Williams and having seen for himself how quickly the change in style and emphasis revitalised the players and results.
"Usually in the short term a change does the job, then it is up to Sean to keep that going in the longer term and up to the players to support him," JP said.
"The fresh enthusiasm and impetus that Sean will bring to energise things can work wonders, as has been proved with the national set-up. That can have an immediate effect."