Hearts Club statement - Robbie Neilson Wanted By MK Dons

[ian1964 10,458]

Club statement

 

By: Hearts Media on 28 Nov, 2016 16:45

 

The club can confirm that MK Dons have made an official approach to Heart of Midlothian in relation to Head Coach Robbie Neilson.

 

Robbie is aware of the approach but he remains fully focused on the immediate task at hand, which is of course, Rangers at home on Wednesday.

 

No further comment or statement will be made by the club until after this match.

 

http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/5554

[ian1964 10,458]

Robbie Neilson has turned down an approach from Rotherham to become the new MK Dons manager.

 

[MacK1950 2,251]

Whether he goes or not anybody thinking of Rotherham should think"revolving door"

[calscot 0]

Might be interesting to see if he can do a job there. I think the Dons have the potential to be a regular Championship side - MK has a population of over quarter of a million which is larger than Aberdeen and two thirds bigger than Dundee.

 

Just from that you can see a potential average attendance of about 18k - double what they have now. Their excellent stadium holds over 30k.

 

Against them is the lack of a history which lowers the number of grass roots fans but that could change in the following generations - if they are reasonably successful and if not everyone focuses solely on the Premiership. The fact most people come to MK for a job from elsewhere also doesn't help.

 

While there are plenty of clubs not too far from the town - Northampton, Luton and Watford aren't too far, and London is pretty easy to get to; there's none within about a 20 mile radius.

 

The people I know tend to mostly be Arsenal or Spurs, with the usual Man U, and a bit of Chelsea and Palace, so not many for the nearer sides - even Watford with the current sojourn in the Premiership, so plenty of kids could be encouraged to travel the few miles to Stadium MK on a far cheaper budget for the parents compared to London.

 

They are doing a lot of local projects to engage with the community including a large youth academy, so that might also pay dividends on future supporters.

 

They had a brief flirtation with the Championship after many years of perpetually and agonising, just missing out on promotion, but are now doing badly in League One, humiliatingly a country mile behind the continually progressing Wimbledon FC.

 

So a lot of work to be done, but a lot of potential - there could be money available as the investors in the stadium really need some of that paid back with the bigger crowds that EC football would bring.

 

That is probably the attraction for Robbie - a reasonable budget, and a chance to showcase himself for bigger clubs in England.

[craig 5,199]

For some reason I have always had a soft spot for MK Dons.

 

That said, Warburton is clearly a better manager than Neilson given Rangers are above Hearts in the league just now, right cal ?

[MacK1950 2,251]

Unfortunately proved wrong tonight Craig, Warburton was clueless his alphabet stops with "plan A" which is so easily negated.

Edited November 30, 2016 by MacK1950
spelling

[calscot 0]

Given the relative budgets, Warburton needs to be well ahead of hearts to show he's a better manager than Neilson.

 

Unfortunately there's no scientific formula to calculate how much so it's up to the subjective view.

 

I doubt we can continue to compare the managers so easily from now on if Robbie moves.

 

So for now the Scotsman is well ahead on performance in the Championship and SPL despite a much lower budget, as well as head to head.

 

For me it's quite conclusive as a results comparison. But best manager in definite reality is difficult to judge with all the variables.

 

However, it's easier to base it on results and I'm sure that's what most boards do, and right now I wouldn't be disappointed if we gazumped the Dons.

[calscot 0]

This also convinces me that given the job instead of McCoist a couple of seasons ago, league place wise, Warburton could have done no better.

 

I also think he'd have quit about the same time as the machinations of Llambias made the job impossible.

 

So it would have been impossible for him to do better in major cups unless he stayed long enough to beat Celtic.

 

He may have improved the showing in the challenge cup and had a slightly better gap in the league.

 

However, he would have been as hampered as McCoist in his recruitment so don't think he could have brought in the same players, especially on a zero fee budget.

 

All in all there's not much chance he would have been a significant improvement over McCoist.

 

McCoist wasn't a particularly good manager, but I can't see that Warburton is much better on the evidence.

 

It would be interesting to see Ally, Mark and Robbie all head to head in League One next season with similar budgets...

[Norris Cole 0]

Not a view some will want to hear, but MK Dons are a good club. Well-run, excellent stadium, good youth policy.

 

Good luck to Nielson, but last night we made him look like Guardiola.

[Norris Cole 0]

This also convinces me that given the job instead of McCoist a couple of seasons ago, league place wise, Warburton could have done no better.

 

I also think he'd have quit about the same time as the machinations of Llambias made the job impossible.

 

So it would have been impossible for him to do better in major cups unless he stayed long enough to beat Celtic.

 

He may have improved the showing in the challenge cup and had a slightly better gap in the league.

 

However, he would have been as hampered as McCoist in his recruitment so don't think he could have brought in the same players, especially on a zero fee budget.

 

All in all there's not much chance he would have been a significant improvement over McCoist.

 

McCoist wasn't a particularly good manager, but I can't see that Warburton is much better on the evidence.

 

It would be interesting to see Ally, Mark and Robbie all head to head in League One next season with similar budgets...

 

I'm not sure anyone other than McCoist would have touched the job with a bargepole. Regardless of his failings as a manager, I'll be forever grateful that he stood up when needed.