Neilson’s nous was such an asset to Souttar
JOHN SOUTTAR can still recall his sliding-doors moment. It was February 1, 2016. At the start of the day he was a Dundee United player and, by his own admission, ‘stagnating’ following a decade at Tannadice. A promising career in serious danger of nose-diving.
By the end of the day he was Hearts’ newest arrival, with the capital club rewarded for their persistence by sealing a £120,000 deal at the third time of asking.
When pen was put to paper, Souttar recalls, there were five minutes left of the transfer window. On such fine margins careers can hinge.
That price-tag now looks like a steal given Souttar has gone on to become a mainstay for Hearts, earned three caps for Scotland and is valued at around £5million by the capital club. But that trajectory was by no means assured.
As a consequence, Souttar will always owe a debt of gratitude to Robbie Neilson.
‘I remember Hearts bid £90,000 then £100,000 and Dundee United
were saying no,’ recalled Souttar.
‘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 that Robbie got me out.
‘Robbie signed me and then worked wonders for me.
‘He basically said: “You are a centre-half and you’ll play centrehalf”. He wanted to work on me oneto-one and, as a defender himself, he did a 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.’ Indeed, it is difficult to find any player who worked under Neilson and his assistant, Stevie Crawford, during that period who would say a bad word about the coaching team. But Neilson (right) still found himself targeted by a vocal minority of detractors, with the nadir of the criticism coming during a Premiership fixture against Partick
Thistle 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 dumbfounding stunt took place, having cruised to the Championship title ahead of Hibs and Rangers with a record-breaking points total in the previous campaign.
‘That (banner) was ridiculous, looking back,’ continues Souttar. ‘I don’t know if things were just going so well that there was a perception we needed more.
‘But we were third in the league when that plane flew over!
‘He won the league at the first time of asking and some of the stick he got was extremely harsh.
‘He was appreciated by everyone inside the club, we all knew how good he was. The people inside the club are the ones who can judge and are seeing him every day.
‘He’s a top manager and a good man and I hope he gets Dundee United promoted this year.’