Hearts boss Robbie Neilson 'least under-pressure manager' in Scottish Premiership

Robbie Neilson is the least under-pressure manager in the Scottish top flight, according to data collated by betting experts.

The Hearts head coach has his team in third place in the cinch Premiership after 20 games with a five-point lead over nearest challengers Motherwell and seven clear of arch-rivals Hibs.

And research conducted by cheekypunter.com claims there is no gaffer in a safer spot as a result of these season’s achievements after winning the Championship crown last term.

The final table was deduced through a combination of looking at betting odds along with Twitter and article sentiment analysis. Neilson sits a point below Celtic’s Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou and Motherwell manager Graham Alexander.

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson currently has his team in third place in the cinch Premiership. Picture: SNS

Ross County boss Malky Mackay is top of the list, followed by Livingston’s David Martindale. New Hibs manager Shaun Maloney wasn’t included in the analysis having just joined the Easter Road club at the end of 2021.

The findings represent a stark contrast to the pressure Neilson was under in March last year after his team were embarrassingly dumped out of the Scottish Cup to Highland League side Brora Rangers. This was followed by a home defeat to Queen of the South with supporters breaking lockdown restrictions to protest his stewardship outside Tynecastle.

Hearts stuck by their man and things could scarcely have gone any better this campaign. They reeled off an 11-game unbeaten run to begin the league season and won three of their last four fixtures before the winter break was brought forward due to crowd restrictions relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hearts’ season will begin again this Tuesday with the visit of St Johnstone.

The full table.

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