Robbie Neilson: No regrets over Neil Alexander's Hearts exit

Robbie Neilson says he has no regrets about his decision to offload veteran goalkeeper Neil Alexander at the end of the season, saying he wants to give youth an opportunity to flourish, writes Moira Gordon.

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson has defended his decision to offload goalkeeper Neil Alexander. Picture: John Devlin

Alexander, a player/coach at Hearts, has since joined Aberdeen in a similar role but expressed disappointment at the way his two years at Hearts came to an end, claiming that Neilson, pictured, withdrew a contract offer at the last minute.

Neilson, though, justified his actions saying that, as a manager, he had to make the decision he felt was best for the club and the team. “We had spoken with Neil about the plans for the future but, in football, things change quickly and Jack [Hamilton] came in at the end of the season and did really well. There comes a point when you have to make a decision and sometimes these decisions can make people feel they’ve been hard done by or they’re not happy about it, but, if I was to keep everyone happy at the football club, I would have 120 players.

“I have to make the decisions that are best for the football club. Neil is still a very good goalkeeper and will do very well, but I had to make a decision for the club. I felt it was the best decision to give Jack the opportunity to be our No 1 and bring Paul Gallacher in as our goalkeeper coach. Jack needs that and I felt it was the right time for him.”