McAllister tips Neilson to go even further than class of ’05
Former Hearts defender insists Burley sacking cost capital club shot at history
JAMIE McALLISTER looked on helplessly as interference from owner Vladimir Romanov ended Hearts’ bid to lift the Scottish title and the reign of manager George Burley after they had gone undefeated in the opening 10 league games of the 2005-06 season.
But he has no concerns about his former club’s positive start to the current campaign being undermined in the same way in the coming months due to the strong working relationship his old team-mate and current boss Robbie Neilson has with the Tynecastle hierarchy.
The Championship champions have won five and drawn three of their first eight cinch Premiership fixtures and will head to Ibrox tomorrow looking to beat leaders Rangers and leapfrog their opponents at the top of the table.
Their impressive form so far in the 2021-22 campaign – they have beaten Celtic, St Mirren, Dundee United, Livingston and Motherwell – has evoked memories of the short-lived but spectacular Burley era in Gorgie for many supporters.
McAllister, now assistant at English League One outfit Sunderland, still wonders what might have been if the former Ipswich Town and
Derby County manager had remained in place at Hearts back in 2005.
The former full-back recalled how the one-time English Premier League Manager of the Year had immediately targeted victory in the SPL when he arrived in Edinburgh and quickly brought the very best out in a talented group that included Roman Bednar, Takis Fyssas, Craig Gordon, Paul Hartley, Steven Pressley, Neilson, Rudi Skacel and Andy Webster.
“From day one, the manager gave us belief,” he said. “We had a meeting and he asked every player where they thought we could finish. Most of the answers were third or fourth. He said: ‘Why can’t we win the league? Why can’t we finish top?’
“No club outwith Celtic and Rangers had won the league in 20 years. But at that meeting he told us: ‘This group is good enough to do it. Why don’t we be ambitious and believe in each other?’ We had good players, we had a good mix of youth and experience, we also had a great manager.
“He was hard on us when he had to be, but he had a softer side as well. He was very approachable and easy to talk to.
“I personally had a really good relationship with him. He called me into the Scotland squad after he left. He was excellent with me and I thought he was excellent with the group as well.
“He came with a reputation as a top manager and he had soon showed that he was with his philosophy of how we should play. Hard work and trust in each other was at the core of it. There was structure. We were organised out of possession and hard to beat. But there was also a freedom in the final third. He set high standards and demanded a lot of us.”
McAllister added: “We started well and built momentum. After we had beaten Rangers 1-0 the players thought: ‘This is our season, we can go and achieve something here’. After the first 10 games we believed we could go and win the league. Then the manager got the sack, which was really surprising. We were five points clear at the top of the table at the time.
“There had been rumblings and rumours in the background. I don’t know if I was misreading the situation, but I felt it was to do with [Deividas] Cesnauskis and [Saulius] Mikoliunas [the Lithuanian duo who had joined from FBK Kaunas] not playing as much as the owner wanted.
“Romanov wanted them in the team every week, George felt they weren’t ready. But it was a big shock to all the players when he left. For me, it was really disappointing. We could have gone on to achieve something special that year. It really knocked us.
“I suppose we did well in the end. We finished second, qualified for the Champions League qualifying rounds and won the Scottish Cup. But if George had remained in place we could have really challenged at the top of the league and had a chance of winning it.”
McAllister, who played for
Hearts in a 1-0 triumph over Rangers at Tynecastle in the September of 2005 that extended their winning start to eight games and equalled a record set 91 years earlier, believes this current run will last due to the off-field stability at Hearts.
“Robbie is a top bloke,” he said. “I still speak to him now. As a player, he was honest and consistent. Away from football, he was a good character with a great sense of humour. I am delighted he has done so well since moving into management. But I am not surprised because he is a winner.
“Every time he went on the pitch he would do whatever it takes to win. His team is the same. The manager’s mentality has filtered down to the players. They are hardworking, but they have a good style of play as well.”
McAllister continued: “It is a huge for a manager to have an owner and a board that trust and believe in him and have a long-term plan in place. I know Robbie has got a good relationship with Ann Budge. That is really important.
“In the modern game, a lot of big clubs have sporting directors and chief executives. It is vital that they work in tandem with the manager to deliver success and give him time. Everyone is working together to achieve success at Hearts now.
“Sunderland played Hearts in a pre-season friendly in the summer and we could see they were going to do well. It was a tough game for us, really tough.
“We won the game 2-0, but their 3-4-3 formation caused us a lot of problems. We could tell that day that Hearts had good players, a good coaching staff and a good manager.
“I am sure they will be able to maintain their good start this time around and enjoy a really good season.”