I had no idea Hearts job was on menu when Levein and I met for dinner
Neilson reveals chance to chew over tactics led to surprise offer
IT wasn’t so much a dinner date as a disguised job interview. As Robbie Neilson sat down to break bread with Craig Levein at the Jam Jar restaurant in Bridge of Allan earlier this year, he had no idea he was effectively being sussed out for the role of Hearts’ head coach.
To Neilson there seemed nothing unusual about Levein’s invitation — after all, he had met with his old mentor in similar circumstances several times previously. More often than not, Neilson would view the get-togethers as a chance to pick Levein’s brain.
On this occasion, the information flow was subtly reversed.
‘Robbie must have wondered what was going on,’ admitted Levein, the Gorgie club’s new director of football. ‘We sat for a couple of hours and talked about football, had the salt and pepper pots out and all that.’
At the time, Neilson was recently returned to Tynecastle, having accepted a job within Gary Locke’s coaching structure. Levein was out of work but already in close contact with Hearts’ prospective owner, Ann Budge.
Neilson was a young, aspiring full-back during Levein’s spell as Hearts manager from 2000 to 2004 and the pair established an enduring rapport.
‘Looking back on it, I spoke to Craig a lot during my playing career,’ admits Neilson. ‘When he was at Dundee United, I’d enjoy sitting down and talking about football with him — and when I was at Falkirk, we would go for something to eat and speak.
‘Four or five months ago, we met again. Craig paid, so that was the main thing! We discussed my thoughts on coaching and football in general. It seems he was doing his homework on me — and I must have spoken well. I realised that when I got the phone call last Sunday.
‘It was a whirlwind. I always hoped I would get the managerial job at Hearts but I was expecting it to be a few years down the line.’
Even as Neilson took that phone call last weekend, Locke still harboured the impression that he stood a good chance of carrying on in his job. A meeting with Levein on Monday morning ended that particular dream and Neilson knew there would be suspicion over his role in Locke’s demise.
Neilson may speak in hushed tones, verging on a whisper, but he is the type to tackle an issue head on and had a thorough conversation with his predecessor the next day.
‘Football can be difficult and Monday was the first time I’ve felt that. Once you take that step into management, you think: “I’m going to be in that position”. It might be a year, it might be five or 15.
‘I met Gary the next morning. He’s a good guy, I get on great with him and he wished me all the best and said he wants Hearts to do well.
‘Sometimes the guy above you moves on and you get asked to take on that role. Gary and I spoke about that. He came in with Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown, stayed on under Paulo Sergio and then John McGlynn. So he has been in this situation himself.’
As Hearts’ new, all-powerful director of football, Levein’s plan is to construct a conveyor belt of coaches.
To that end it is likely that Ian Cathro, currently assistant manager at Portuguese side Rio Ave, will be added to the mix. Hugely impressed by the work done by Cathro at youth level during his time at Dundee United, Levein is expected to make his move following Rio Ave’s cup final against Benfica this evening.
Long term, the plan could even be to groom Cathro as Neilson’s successor but more immediately there is a job to be done on the Hearts academy, with former head John Murray moving into a scouting role.
‘I take great pride in what has happened at United and my plan is to put the same system in place here at Hearts,’ continued Levein.
‘Hearts have a group of good players, one or two of them excellent players, but underneath that… There has been a real lack of investment in the academy over the past five years.’
On day one, both Levein and Neilson were at pains to stress that the latter would be in charge of picking the team next season. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Levein adapts to the role of overseer.
Following his sacking as national coach he conceded that a lack of control over his players had frustrated him during his time in charge. Will he not miss coaching?
‘I don’t know,’ he confessed. ‘I have huge excitement about this project. John Murray and I will be heavily involved in finding players. I will have a great interest in seeing how that works and I will be going out to training to watch. I don’t intend to be in the dugout.’
Levein plans to meet the head coach each Thursday to discuss tactics and team selection for the impending weekend fixture.
‘I will ask Robbie what his plan is for the game,’ said Levein. ‘If I don’t let him execute the plan, then I would be as well doing the job myself.
‘He has to learn. In education of any type, you have to give people their head and let them make their mistakes. Don’t get me wrong, I will be there to help him but it has to be his decision. Because if I interfere in it, then how do I know if he is any good?
‘I’ve watched Robbie coach on numerous occasions and I get a buzz from watching him improve.
‘I think there is a calmness and intelligence in him. There is a touch of Steven Pressley about him.
‘I’ve seen his Under-20 team and I like the way he sets them up, their organisation and the changes he makes within games. Can I say he is going to nail it? No I can’t.’
GIVEN that lack of certainty, there is a school of thought that Locke might have been just as good a bet to remain in his post. The stats show that, without the 15-point penalty for the club’s descent into administration, Hearts’ painfully young team would have avoided relegation to the Championship.
Levein, who transferred Locke out
of Hearts immediately after his appointment in 2000, offers a fairly withering assessment of the 38-year-old’s coaching ability.
‘I firmly believe Gary’s managerial skills are excellent and I said that to him on Monday,’ he continued. ‘Sometimes tactically, the coaching of the team and patterns of play — not so much. I thought he got players playing well, his management of the supporters, of the media and the way he carried himself — those were all management traits.’
Levein had an unsuccessful spell with Leicester City after leaving Hearts in 2004 and has always maintained that he has unfinished business south of the border.
‘Yeah, there might be still,’ he confirmed. ‘I see this as something that has come out of leftfield and it really has got me excited. There were a few job offers that I turned down that I thought: “Nah, I don’t see how I can make an impact there”. One abroad and one in the UK.
‘This might have a natural lifespan. Certainly, I’m looking at this as a five-year job. I’m not saying I won’t be here longer than that, but I might only be here a year, although in my mind I’ve not got an exit strategy.’
If Levein presents certain alphamale traits, Budge may provide a soothing counter-point. Now installed as executive chair following her £2.5million takeover, the self- made IT millionaire becomes Hearts’ first female figurehead with a prudent philosophy completely at odds with the financial bravado and recklessness of her predecessor Vladimir Romanov.
‘I’ve found it different, refreshing, because everything’s calm, less fullon,’ admitted Levein. ‘Next season, the pressure will be about winning games but Ann’s been fantastic. Everyone around her is saying: “We need to get up” and she’s just: “Chill, let’s just make sure we get this working properly and that working properly…”.’
Budge has been dubbed the new Queen of Hearts, but Levein has effectively been crowned king.