Neilson Next To Leave Hearts?

Neilson has been out of favour in the last few weeks after the introduction of Barasa to the side at right back. Indeed, he was so far out of the picture
on Saturday that he never even made the bench.

I think that Robbie Neilson is a player who deserves immense credit for the way he's applied himself in recent seasons. He was very much a player that the fans used to despair of when he first broke into the side and the fact that he's now one of the fans' favourites shows you just how much his game has improved since then. Well, perhaps that's not entirely the reason - I think you'll find that the anti-Lithuanian feeling among a large percentage of the support has made the Scottish players even more popular than they were, even those that were never exactly favourites, like Neilson and even Neil McCann. But Robbie has definitely improved beyond question.

However all that said, can you really say that you think Neilson is good enough for the level you want Hearts to be playing at? I can't. In the Hearts team last
season, which was in my view the best footballing side in the country when the strongest XI was picked, Neilson was clearly a weak link. He is a solid enough defender, but when he's exposed to any sort of pace he really struggles and looks clumsy. His distribution can also be suspect, which is often caused by having to hurry after taking a poor touch. I was always of the opinion that, as soon as Hearts found a right back of some quality, Robbie's days at Hearts would be numbered.

The big problem though, is that Hearts have not found a quality right back! Barasa has replaced him recently and although he's not as bad as some fans are trying to make out, he's certainly not obviously better than Neilson. In fact, on the evidence so far, I'd probably prefer Robbie in the team. I do think that Ibrahim Tall is potentially the best right back we have at the club, but he's only ever been played there on a handful of occasions, to without seeing the guy playing the same position in back-to-back matches, it's difficult to tell if he's any good there. I certainly don't think that Tall is a natural centre-back.

So as much as I wouldn't have a problem with Neilson not getting a game if we signed a right back of genuine quality, I'd definitely have a problem with letting him go at the moment. But as Paul Hartley was rumoured to have said to the fans at the weekend, 'he's not Lithuanian enough' to get a game it seems!