I owe my career to Robbie
(Shame some fans didn’t rate him and campaigned to drive him out)
John Souttar insists Robbie Neilson saved his career – and says the abuse piled on the former Hearts gaffer was ridiculous.
The 22-year-old admits he was stagnating at Dundee United in January 2016 when Neilson came calling.
The Jambos agreed a £120,000 fee with United at the third time of asking and the move was completed with five minutes to spare in the winter window. That price tag now looks a steal given Souttar has become a key man for Hearts, been capped by Scotland and, amid interest from south of the border, been valued at around £5million by the capital club. But Souttar reckons that fraught evening was his sliding doors moment – and he will always owe a debt of gratitude to Neilson and current gaffer Craig Levein for making it happen.
He said: “Hearts made two bids but United kept saying no. It got to the last day of the January window and they accepted £120,000. I came down the road and did the medical that night.
“I signed with five minutes to go and, looking back, it was a massive point in my progress.
“I don’t know what would have happened to me because I was stagnating at United.
“It was the wake-up call I needed. When I made the move, United were just going one way really and I’m thankful Robbie got me out.
“Robbie worked wonders for me. He said: ‘You are a centrehalf so will play centre-half.’
“He wanted to work on me one to one and, as a defender himself, he did an awful lot with me on heading the ball and being physical.
“He was big on the importance of the gym and that was ideal for me.” It is difficult to find any player who worked under Neilson and assistant Stevie Crawford who would say a bad word about them.
But Neilson was targeted by a vocal minority of boo-boys – abuse that came to a head during a fixture against Partick in March 2016 when a banner was flown over Tynecastle reading: “No style, no bottle, Neilson out.”
Hearts were THIRD in the league when the plane-crazy stunt took place, having romped to the Championship title ahead of Hibs and Rangers with a record record-breaking breaking points total in the previous campaign.
Souttar said: “That banner was ridiculous. We were third in the league at the time.
“I don’t know if things were just going so well that there was a perception that we needed more.
“Some of the stick he got was extremely harsh. He was appreciated by everyone inside of the club, we all knew how good he was.
“He’s a top manager and a good man and I really hope that he can get Dundee United promoted this year.”
The critics got their wish when Neilson left Hearts for MK MKDons Dons inDecember in December 2016 – 24 hours after a stunning 2-0 win over Rangers at Tynecastle with the Jambos riding high in second spot.
Souttar can still recall the surreal mix of emotions. He recalled: “That was a weird night. We were unbelievable and Tynecastle was rocking.
“It was one of the best nights there I can remember.
“It wasn’t confirmed before the game that he was leaving. It was the elephant in the room.
“It wasn’t until the next day that everything came out – he didn’t even tell us he was leaving after the game.
“Maybe everyone was on such a high that he decided not to have that conversation then.
“Robbie, Craw [Crawford] – who was brilliant – and a lot of the backroom staff all said their goodbyes a few days later.”
Friday night’s visit of Dundee United in the Betfred Cup will be the first time Neilson has been back at Tynecastle since that triumph over the Gers.
Souttar added: “I’d imagine he’ll get a warm welcome – certainly from all the staff and the players, the fans too.
“It will be a good test for us. Betfred Cup games are always tough because you are trying to get into the swing of things.”