John Rankin on how Hearts changed him and the text from Robbie Neilson he won’t forget

A Hearts-made manager is how John Rankin considers himself.

That, though, doesn’t cause him to feel strange in the slightest over plotting for Hamilton Accies to make his former employers toil in the clubs’ fifth round Scottish Cup tie in Lanarkshire on Friday night. Even if his regard for former his Hearts counterpart Robbie Neilson could not be greater. Not least because when Accies were enduring almighty struggles across the final three months of 2022 - they lost 12 and drew one of 14 Championship fixtures in that period - Neilson was there for him.

Rankin’s men are now six without loss, a period during which they have eliminated Ross County in the last round of the competition, and reached the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup. That showpiece earned courtesy of an extra-time victory over Queen of the South on Tuesday. The 39-year-old maintains he never considered that his first crack at senior management could prove a brief sojourn. But he is still grateful for Neilson’s support in a post that resulted from spreading his wings by leaving his role as Hearts youth coach in December 2021 to become assistant to Stuart Taylor at Hamilton, whom he then succeeded last summer.

“My education as a coach was at Hearts and I absolutely loved my time there but to progress I felt I had to move on,” said the former Hibs midfielder. “I was a player when Hearts offered me the opportunity, through Craig Levein, to go and learn how to coach and give me a foundation to build a career and I’d have been silly to turn that down. I’d have been stubborn not to realise my playing career was coming to an end. So I’ll always be grateful to Craig for that. I learned a lot there and progressed pretty quickly. Robbie obviously came in as the manager and he was great with me, a former team-mate [at Dundee United]. So much so that this season when results hadn’t been going so well he had been in contact and a good support mechanism for myself. As you go along you make friends and colleagues and you meet people that you continue to be in contact with and who will continue to be a support network. At that time, after a poor result, it was a text message I thoroughly appreciated.

Hamilton Accies manager John Rankin with his Hearts counterpart Robbie Neilson when they were players on the opposite sides of the Edinburgh divide. (Photo by Jeff Holmes/SNS Group).

“I’ve always admired Robbie, one as a professional footballer and player, and two, as a person. He’s a great guy. He keeps himself to himself and I’m not surprised he’s a successful manager. But having taken that time, when you come off the back of a sore one, and to share the fact he’s in a club in Europe but suffering sore defeats as well, it lets you know you’re not alone and there are people thinking of you. I don’t get too down but having that support outwith certainly helped.

“During those times you can start to doubt yourself but if that happens then it’s when the problems can arise. Neither myself nor the players began to doubt. We knew we were doing the right things, it was just patience and time. Now we’re getting a wee bit back but there’s still a lot more to come. We’re still bottom of the league. We’ve had six games undefeated but two or three are in the cup. Only three are in the league so we need to continue to change our league form and turn it around. Friday is a free hit against massive favourites.”