Neilson ready to mark ten years at Hearts

PREPARING to pull on a maroon jersey for the 200th time this afternoon before attending a dinner in his honour after ten years of service to the club, defender Robbie Neilson insisted yesterday that Hearts have moved closer to the Old Firm during his tenure at Tynecastle and that opposing teams now tailor their tactics to curb the Edinburgh side.

"Every week we're working as hard as we can to get as close as we can to Rangers and Celtic because we want to be considered on the same level as them," he said. "When teams come to Tynecastle, they set out their sides in a certain way to play against us. That's what the Old Firm have come up against over the years and there's no doubt it makes life more difficult. But it's under those circumstances as a player and a team that you prove yourself and show you can combat that style of play."

While Neilson, 26, may seem an improbable contender at right-back for the Hearts Hall of Fame to anyone who remembers the formidable Bobby Parker leading the club to victory in the 1954 League Cup final, there's no doubt the Cumbernauld man has emerged alongside Steven Pressley, Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley as the Scottish core of the Vladimir Romanov revolution.

After being presented with a silver quaich to mark his ten-year anniversary with the club, the 100th player in Hearts' history to be capped expects to find enough reward against Kilmarnock today by reclaiming the right-back position from Ibrahim Tall after being rested against Hibs on Sunday.

Coincidentally, Jim Jefferies is in charge of the Rugby Park side this afternoon and it was the Kilmarnock manager who brought Neilson to Edinburgh a decade past, signing the 16-year-old from Rangers. The full-back first made a name for himself in the same Tynecastle youth team as Gary Naysmith, but had a more circuitous route to international honours than the Everton left-back.

While Neilson was blessed with a powerful long throw, physical drive and a committed approach, he needed to show patience to claim a regular berth. Once unable to dislodge Alan Maybury from the right-back spot, Neilson now has to fend off challenges from Tall and Tiago Costa for the position.

"Making a career in football looks easier from the outside than when you're inside the game," he reflected. "A lot of the boys who came through at the same time as me have fallen away and are now out of football. So I regard ten years with Hearts as quite an achievement."

Praised by Valdas Ivanauskas, the head coach, for being an admirable man as well as a fine footballer, Neilson was once dispatched to Cowdenbeath and Queen of the South on loan by another past manager, Craig Levein. It was typical of Neilson that he took those humbling experiences in his stride and returned an improved player.

"There's been a lot of changes during my time with Hearts, particularly in recent years," recalled the defender. "I worked first under Jim and then Craig Levein. After that, we've had quite a few different managers (John Robertson, George Burley, Graham Rix and Valdas Ivanauskas). And I think I've learned from all of them.

"There were times when I've not been in the first team or have gone out on loan to other clubs. But I always wanted to stay with Hearts. This is a big club, one of the biggest in Scotland, and I felt that if I left here then my career would go down the way. So I worked harder to get myself back into the team.

"The highlight of my time so far was winning the Scottish Cup last season. It also meant a lot to me to break into the international team and win a first cap because it was playing for Hearts and alongside the good players at this club which earned me that honour. But I try not to look back into the past too much - it's about looking forward to the games which are coming up.

"If you don't play well, week-in, week-out, then you'll be out of the team. It just goes to show how far Hearts have come in the time I've been here that they can now use a rotation system."

Taken from the Scotsman