Fan relationship, dramatic downturn, use of Robert Snodgrass: Where it all went wrong for Robbie Neilson at Hearts

‘It’s sad, but it had to happen.’ This is not a direct quote from any one individual, as such, but it was the overwhelming sentiment of Hearts fans responding to the club’s announcement that head coach Robbie Neilson had been sacked.

It’s a reaction very much at odds with the the emotion on display inside Tynecastle Park on Saturday after the conclusion of the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren. When Neilson walked out to the centre circle to applaud the home fans for their backing he was met with a vicious burst of boos. This continued as he walked toward the main stand and up the tunnel, a hoard of supporters gathering on the walkway above demanding he leave the club at once, though in not-so-restrained language. The contrast and dramatic change in tone from one day to the next further underlines the complex relationship between the fans and their former manager.

The decisive decision from the club's board enabled anger to dissipate, allowing compassion and warmth to return. Robbie Neilson was good for Hearts: as a player, as a youth coach, as the first manager in the post-Vladimir Romanov era and his second spell in charge. He bleeds Hearts and deserves great appreciation for having won two second-tier titles, reached two Scottish Cup finals and won one himself during his playing days. Many recognised this and the term “legend” has been thrown around on social media since the announcement.

But there are those who either never forgave him for surrendering the two-goal lead to a Hibs side playing a level below in 2016 – which became the launching pad for the Hibees to go on and finally break their Scottish Cup curse – or never really took to him in the first place. In his first spell he was methodical to the point of appearing cold (which is far from what he’s actually like in person) and didn’t strike up the kind of rapport you'd expect from a former player with so many years of service. He worked on that second time around, playing to the gallery a lot more and putting the kind of emphasis on beating Hibs that you’d expect from a steward of the club, but familiarity was already there and, as we know, that breeds contempt.

Due to that, he was never more than a couple of bad results away from a ground-swell of opinion that he needed to be sacked. He survived it before: towards the end of his first spell before he left of his own accord, after the humiliating defeat to Brora Rangers, and even during last year’s third-place finish where a wobble in February saw calls for his head. But like the proverbial cat, he eventually ran out of lives.

An April 9 departure seemed almost inconceivable on January 22. That was the day Hearts had beaten Hibs 3-0 at Easter Road in the Scottish Cup. Neilson’s stock could scarcely have been higher. He’d beaten Hibs in Leith for the first time in his career, held an eight-game unbeaten run against them (nine in total) and, most pertinently, had the team with a healthy lead in third place and looked set to be the first Hearts manager since Craig Levein way back in 2004 to finish best-of-the-rest for two seasons in succession. This would give the club a further £5 million bounty from playing at least eight times in Europe and the plan often expressed by Neilson and sporting director Joe Savage – to finish third every year and reinvest that money so that Hearts would find a level of their own within Scottish football between the Old Firm and the rest – looked to be coming to fruition.

You could argue Neilson took the wind out of his own sails. The Hibs win was their ninth unbeaten result on the bounce with six victories during that time. The next match a week later at Livingston saw a number of changes to the starting XI as he looked to rest some players before the visit of Rangers to Tynecastle the following midweek. Hearts got a draw out of the encounter in Almondvale but their momentum hasn’t recovered since. Even in victories over Dundee United, St Johnstone and Hamilton Accies (their only wins in the last ten) they’ve looked far from convincing.

The Rangers game also sticks out as it was the match he decided to heavily tinker with the formula and it went disastrously wrong. Playing with Robert Snodgrass, Barrie McKay and Garang Kuol as a midfield three was about as much use as playing without a midfield at all.

Robbie Neilson was sacked as manager of Hearts on Sunday afternoon after a run of five straight defeats. Picture: SNS

It’s depressingly fitting that Snodgrass was sent off in Neilson’s final match, thereby eliminating any hopes of an improbable comeback against the Buddies. Neilson was both saved and destroyed by his use of the veteran midfielder this season. When Snodgrass was originally brought into the team and deployed as a No.6 – having been a career wide-man or attacking midfielder – it reinvigorated Hearts after the demands of Europe had sapped domestic performances. But it became apparent opponents were becoming increasingly aware of his influence and set about shutting him down. Now every game he’s pressed aggressively and gives up possession as a result. Neilson either had a blind spot for this or erroneously kept faith that the former West Ham United man would eventually figure things out and return to his influential best.

Outsiders looking in will see the sacking as harsh. He’d only just slipped from third place after all. Two wins and they’d likely be in the driving seat once more. But the St Mirren game was exactly what supporters saw against Motherwell and against Aberdeen and against Kilmarnock. Neilson kept saying the team needed to be more aggressive in and out of possession but they looked increasingly passive. It just wasn’t working any more. The message wasn’t getting through.

It’s sad, but it had to happen.

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