Neilson – Hearts’ Secret Weapon?!

Robbie Neilson has rarely been viewed as one of Hearts’ best players in the eyes of the fans. In fact, for long periods during his long Tynecastle career, there have been many calls for the club to sign a right-back of genuine quality so that the team could boast some real strength in this position, despite the fact that several managers in recent years have stuck by the loyal defender.

However in recent weeks Hearts’ fortunes have taken a real turn for the better, and their defence in particular has a much more solid look to it than it did in the early stages of the season. Not a lot has really changed back there in terms of personnel…..with the exception of the return of everyone’s favourite long-haired right-back that is!

Could it really just be a coincidence that the side have started to look much more solid since the return of Neilson? A couple of years ago I might have been tempted to say ‘yes’, but I don’t think there is any doubt whatsoever that Robbie, despite his obvious limitations as a football player, has had a stabilising effect on the Hearts team since he came back.

They say that there are few substitutes for experience, and when you look around the Hearts first-team squad there are few players there with more of that than Neilson. He didn’t play alongside the likes of Steven Pressley all those years without picking up some sort of know-how, and what Robbie tends to be able to offer Hearts these days is perhaps similar to what our former talismanic captain used to give us.

Pressley was never the greatest centre-half that Hearts ever had, but his worth to the team centred around his great leadership and organisational qualities, not to mention knowing exactly what he could and couldn’t push the boundaries on in terms of match officials. This latter point should not have its important under-estimated.

Players who have been around long enough tend to just know what can and can’t be done, and Neilson is definitely someone who for whatever reason is able to get away with things that some of his younger team-mates aren’t. Several times against United on Saturday I saw him foul his man off the ball to give himself an extra yard on a pacier opponent, and the ploy worked a treat. Compare and contrast that with the number of fouls that the likes of Eggert Jonsson tends to give away in the same position, or Lee Wallace on the other side. I think experience plays a huge part in this.

On Saturday I thought that Neilson had one of his best ever games for Hearts. The two players he was up against down the right hand side were much quicker than him, but he still managed to get the better of them for the most part, and was also able to support the men in front of him very effectively, too.

Hats well and truly off to Robbie Neilson for coming back into the Hearts side and doing so well…