The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Home where his heart is
● Levein says Neilson was yearning for Gorgie return even last year
Former Hearts director of football and manager Craig Levein says Robbie Neilson had expressed a desire to return to Tynecastle last year.
Neilson made a surprise return to the Jambos, who he managed until 2016, on Sunday, leaving Championship winners Dundee United for a return to the club which gave him his first managerial role.
Levein, who worked with Neilson in the duo’s previous time together at Hearts, is not surprised at Neilson’s decision to return to Gorgie.
He said: “I had a long conversation with Robbie in November and he intimated he would like to come back to Hearts at some point.
“I didn’t think it would be as soon as this. I think he regretted leaving at the time he did. He went to Hearts as a 15-year-old kid, so has a really strong connection. I’m convinced it’s the right move for him.”
Former Hearts and Dundee United defender Steven Pressley believes the financial situation at Tannadice played a major part in Neilson’s decision to quit his post at United in favour of a return to Edinburgh.
Pressley said: “When you look at Dundee United’s recent accounts, they’ve turned over £3 million and made a £3.7m loss, which is really quite worrying. It’s unsustainable.”
Pressley has ruled himself out of contention for the United managerial vacancy and Hearts’ director of football role. Pressley added: “In the last four weeks Dundee United have lost their CEO and now they’ve lost Robbie to one of their rivals.
“So not all can be right at Dundee United just now and that’s a grave concern for the club.
“Robbie’s relationship with Hearts owner Ann Budge is very strong and one of the difficulties he found at Dundee United was he wasn’t getting direct access to the owner (Mark Ogren) there, who makes the decisions.
“He had a decent enough relationship with (director of football) Tony Asghar, but I don’t think his access
“I don’t think access to the owner was there”
to the owner was there. He’ll get that at Hearts.”
While Neilson prepares for his new challenge Levein has said he would not rule out a return to United, whose search for Neilson’s replacement is now under way.
Levein, who managed United form 2006 to 2009, said: “A conversation would be interesting.
“My time at Dundee United was special, I built a really strong team.
“I would never say never to the Dundee United job. But I don’t know the structure of the club and it’s something I would need to look at in great detail before accepting, if approached.”