It’s great to have stable relationship
Hearts and Livingston lock horns today as two teams firmly in the hunt for European footbal l through their Premiership form.
And Jambos boss Robbie Neilson insists that success can be traced back to the fact he and oppos i te number David Martindale have the benefit of stability in the dugout.
The pair are two of only three top-flight bosses who have been in their current roles for longer than two years – Callum Davidson at St Johnstone is the other.
The support Neilson and Martindale have had comes amid intense speculation surrounding the future of Aberdeen’s Jim Goodwin and Lee Johnson at Hibs.
Last Monday’s embarrassing 1- 0 Scottish Cup defeat to non- league Darvel had fans calling for Goodwin’s head.
Neilson can sympathise with Goodwin after Hearts were beaten by Highland League side Brora Rangers in the same competition in March 2021.
Reminded about that Brora loss, Neilson said: “It goes back to how key stability is. If you jump off the back of one or two results, where is the long-term planning?
“We’ve had a great period in the season but should we lose three games on the bounce, do we change everything?
“Or do we say ‘ We have a bit of stability so we can get ourselves back going again in the hope the long-term process gets us where we want to go’?
“I believe that’s how you should do it in football – but it does not happen that often.
“Stability is the most important thing in football.
“You need stability right from the top all the way down.
“Everyone has to have a vision and an objective of where the club wants to go and everything has to fit into that.
“If the manager is changing every six months then you don’t have the same continuity and that’s when you have problems.
“At Livingston, with Davie having been there behind the scenes as assistant then manager, they’ve had that continuity too.”