Neilson embracing a little help from above
AS he strives to build a team for the Premiership, while still fighting to get out of a Championship he believes to be better than ever, is it any wonder that Robbie Neilson welcomes all offers of help from on high?
Talk of new American owners installing a sporting director, perhaps even a managing director as well, hardly fills the Dundee United head coach with dread. Far from it.
In fact Neilson, who worked successfully under director of football Craig Levein at Hearts, has a message for the old-school football folk who insist on sticking to the old model of one all-powerful gaffer making every single decision.
‘Look, for me, the people who are sceptical about it are people who have never worked in that environment,’ said the former MK Dons boss, who spoke to new owner Mark Ogren and his advisers via conference call on Wednesday.
‘And, in my opinion, they are clinging on to days gone by. Football has evolved, it’s always changing — and it’s becoming like a proper business, as it should be.
‘So you have levels in clubs, you have hierarchies, you have long-term planning in a club.
‘Gone are the days when it was the local butcher made good and a manager running the club.
‘It’s all big companies, big sponsorship, big ideas. That’s the way Dundee United are going — and the way all clubs will go, if they have real potential. ‘The whole structure of the club is changing and there will be talks on that as time goes on.
‘At the moment, I’m very, very comfortable with the way things are progressing.
‘The club are trying to create a structure that can take the club forward — and it’s a structure I believe in.
‘Football is getting bigger and bigger. Even in the Championship, we’re a big club in this league and, if we do get promoted like we want to, it becomes even bigger again.
‘There is so much in the background of football these days, the commercial side, dealing with agents, dealing with players, all sorts of different things.
‘So the more experienced and good people you can get in, the better it is for us.’
Neilson plans to meet with Ogren, who has interests in baseball and ice hockey franchises in the States, when the former oil executive jets in later this month. United have yet to confirm agent Tony Asghar’s appointment as sporting director but are likely to announce his arrival soon. In the meantime, Neilson is pushing ahead with transfers, revealing: ‘Having spoken to the owners on Wednesday, they’re really keen to push the club forward. ‘That was the first time I spoke to them — apart from having spoken to them before they took over. ‘It went well. It’s really important to have that relationship. They’re coming over here in the middle of January when we’ll have another good chat. ‘We were just on a conference call the other day, so it was quite difficult to get things across. It’s clear they have ambitions to take the club as far as they can, which matches my own ambition. ‘One of the reasons I spoke to him yesterday was to explain that you have to have a relationship.
‘You have to be able to make decisions and, when things are happening quick, you can’t wait too long to get it over the line.
‘Relationships will evolve and they will build. It’s not going to happen overnight.
‘But everyone is singing from the same hymn book, everyone has the same ambition for the club. So these are exciting times.’
Asked specifically if Ogren has put forward ideas and innovations of his own, Neilson said: ‘The owner? Yeah, you know his background, he’s got a couple of sports clubs in America.
‘And he’s ambitious to push the football side now. So he’s got ideas about where he wants to take the club. It’s a great time to be here and be part of it.’
Ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Partick Thistle, United sit seven points off the pace set by Championship leaders Ross County — and four behind Ayr United, who have a game in hand.
The prospect of a fourth straight season in the second tier is unthinkable for a club who, under Ogren, have made the top half of the top flight their immediate goal.
Achieving promotion is going to be tough enough. Doing that with one eye on next season’s challenges? It can’t be avoided.
Neilson said: ‘A club of this stature, we want to be in a position where not only do we get out of this league, but to be able to push on for the top six.
‘To do that you need to have a core of players who stay with you right through the journey.
‘You see St Mirren this year, for instance. You do really well in the Championship — but then you have to totally rebuild your team for the Premiership. It’s very difficult to do that.
‘What you want is that base to get yourself out of the Championship and then give you a springboard to go higher.
‘The players I’m targeting are ones I think can take us higher again.’
Aware that the Championship will get a lot more attention during the Premiership’s winter break, Neilson laughed when asked to provide an assessment of the division for any casual observers.
‘It’s phenomenal!’ he said, adding: ‘You’re missing so much!
‘No, look, it’s still a tough league with good teams, a lot of competition between teams who can get out of the league.
‘I think when I was at Hearts, we had Hibs and Rangers, a couple of other teams.
‘But there were still certain games you would go into and think: “Yeah, we’ll win that”. Whereas in the Championship now, I feel they are all tough games, nobody is really miles away.
‘The ambition is to get out of the league this season. But it’s all right saying we’ll do this and do that. You have to do it.’