Robbie Neilson reveals he rejected Ibrox job
Robbie Neilson has revealed that he turned down the chance to become assistant manager to Philippe Clement at Ibrox.
The former Hearts boss is back in football as manager of Tampa Bay Rowdies who play in the second tier of the NSL.
With two stints at Tynecastle on his CV alongside a spell in charge of Dundee United Neilson would certainly have fitted the profile of someone grounded in the ways of Scottish football.
New Tampa Bay Rowdies boss Robbie Neilson chose to move to Florida despite holding talks with Philippe Clement last month about becoming the Belgian’s assistant manager at Rangers. Neilson will start his new job in January. Stephan Van Der Heyden subsequently became No.2 at Ibrox https://t.co/ZBM3qMexDX
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Clement was in talks with James Bisgrove and John Bennett for a fortnight before he got the Ibrox job ahead of Frank Lampard.
With Neilson knocking the job back Clement switched to Stephan Van Der Heyden as his assistant while retaining Alex Rae and Steve Davis to ensure that ‘traditions’ are respected.
During his spells in charge of Hearts Neilson struggled to cope with defeats from Celtic, constantly deflecting to the most trivial incidents to cope. After winning in Ange Postecoglou’s first domestic match Neilson lost eight on the bounce to the hoops before being sacked for the second time.