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Craig Levein admits he would “never yelp never” to a return to Dundee United as Robbie Neilson’s successor.
Neilson’s shock circulation to Hearts has left United trying to fetch a recent supervisor.
The Tayside membership are making ready for a return to the Scottish Premiership, but Hearts possess begun bid aimed in direction of overturning their relegation and scrapping promotions.
“A conversation could possibly perhaps be attention-grabbing,” said Levein of a imaginable manner from the membership he managed from 2006-09.
“My time at Dundee United used to be particular, I constructed a extremely solid crew.
“I’d never yelp never to the Dundee United job. But I invent no longer know the structure of the membership and or no longer it is something I’d prefer to fetch at in colossal detail sooner than accepting, if approached.”
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Levein had Neilson as a player all one of the top ways via his first spell as Hearts supervisor after which, as director of soccer, appointed him head coach in 2014.
He is no longer shocked the 40-year-susceptible has chosen to leave United for a return to the membership he guided to the Championship title in 2015 and had them 2nd within the tip flight when he departed for MK Dons a year later.
Talking on BBC Scotland’s Sportsound Podcast, Levein said: “I had a lengthy conversation with Robbie in November and he intimated he would favor to come assist assist to Hearts at some point.
“I did not have confidence it could possibly perhaps perhaps be as soon as this. I feel about he regretted leaving at the time he did. He went to Hearts as a 15-year-susceptible child, so has a extremely solid connection [with the club]. I’m convinced or no longer it is some distance the ethical circulation for him.”
Levein expects Hearts owner Ann Breeze to mutter a recent director of soccer and chief executive “pretty soon”. The ex-Scotland head coach used to be sacked as supervisor and director of soccer at Tynecastle final October sooner than seeing out his contract at the assist of the scenes.
“Ann has been within the firing line for six years and bringing somebody in to salvage the tension on a day-to-day basis as CEO could possibly perhaps be indispensable for her,” he added.
‘All can’t be ethical at United’
Steven Pressley, the primitive Dundee United defender, believes primitive Hearts crew-mate Neilson’s solid relationship with Breeze proved key within the circulation.
And Pressley says United’s monetary discipline would possess been the “greatest discipline” for Neilson in deciding to leave Tannadice after leading the membership to promotion to total their four-year shield within the 2nd tier.
“Must you detect at Dundee United’s contemporary accounts, they’ve become over £3m and made a £3.7m loss, which is moderately caring. It be unsustainable,” said Pressley, who has dominated himself out of competition for the United managerial vacancy and Hearts’ director of soccer characteristic.
“Within the final four weeks they’ve misplaced their CEO, and now they’ve misplaced Robbie to one of their rivals. So no longer all will also be ethical at Dundee United ethical now and that’s the reason a grave discipline for the membership.
“Robbie’s relationship with Ann is terribly solid and one of the difficulties he stumbled on at Dundee United used to be he wasn’t getting inform receive admission to to the owner [Mark Ogren] there who makes the decisions.
“He had a tight satisfactory relationship with [director of football] Tony Asghar, but I invent no longer have confidence his receive admission to to the owner used to be there. He’ll receive that at Hearts.”