Hearts Boss Neilson Has No Intention Of Biting Tongue Despite Ban
Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson vowed to continue speaking his mind despite being handed a suspended two-match ban by a Scottish Football Association disciplinary panel.
Neilson was found guilty of indicating bias or incompetence'' against Willie Collum and his team of match officials by revealing they had trained with 10 men in the lead-up to their defeat at Hamilton in August.
Following Callum Paterson's red card, which was later rescinded, Neilson said: ''In the recent past, the statistics involving the officials have shown a lot of red cards against us, so we have to prepare for it. The next time we get these officials, we will again train with 10 men.
Neilson went to Hampden on Thursday armed with statistics which backed up his assertion - Collum has sent off four Hearts players in six games - but defeat and the prospect of a touchline ban will not alter his approach.
Not at all, I will say what I believe I want to say,'' he said.I'm not going to have any issues with that.
I was disappointed at the outcome but you stand by it. They decided what they decided and we have to move on.
It's part of football, they make their decision and we have to accept it.''
Hearts host Kilmarnock on Saturday looking for their first Ladbrokes Premiership win in five games.
But they have got back on track following three consecutive defeats against Accies, Inverness and Aberdeen by knocking Killie out the League Cup and holding Celtic last weekend.
And they have remained in third spot in the table courtesy of their five opening victories.