Latest news with #Neilson
Scotsman
6 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Former Hearts boss keen for management return as he eyes chance to turn possible rival
A former Hearts and Dundee United manager has admitted he is looking to return to the dugout. Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Former Hearts and Dundee United manager Robbie Neilson has revealed he is keen to return to the dugout in the near future - but has not received any recent approaches. The 44-year-old has been out of work since leaving American USL Championship club Tampa Bay Rowdies just four games into their season as his 18-month stay in Florida came to an end. Despite being linked with a number of vacancies in recent weeks, the former Hearts boss has admitted he has not been approached by any potential employers during that time and stressed there are two short windows where roles could become available. That said, jobs in the Premiership are not off the table for him. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When asked if there was an interest from clubs, he told PLZ Soccer: 'Not at the moment, no. Obviously there's a few jobs come up but nobody has approached me on that side of things. We will just wait and see what happens. You have these wee periods in football, especially as a manager, you have the end of the season, the start of pre-season, where there's movement and then the next one will probably be September or October. 'I'd really like to get in now because I think you get that opportunity, first to recruit players and secondly to do a pre-season and actually build it because if you wait later in the year, you are generally taking over somewhere that is having having a difficult period and the players are already there. It's just firefighting until the window.' 'I'm open to anything at the moment' Here's where some of the most recent Hearts managers are now | SNS Group The high points in Neilson's managerial career has come with promotion from the Championship after guiding Hearts back into the Premiership on two separate occasions and achieving the same feat with Dundee United in 2020. The former Scotland international admitted he would be open to managing in the second tier once again - but stressed his next role will be decided by the strength of the relationship he feels he would have with key figures within the club. 'Potentially,' he replied when asked if he would consider a Championship role. 'I'm open to anything at the moment. Obviously, the Premiership in Scotland, there's abroad, there's interest in England as well. The Championship is a league I know very well having been promoted out of it three times. At this moment in time for me it's just if a club wants to speak to me and if we speak is it something we'd like to do together - because I think it comes down to the relationship with the players, which comes eventually, but the biggest relationship is with either the sporting director or the CEO depending on the structure. You have to get that feel for the club and say what do we want to do, does your vision match my vision and if we do that, how are we going to do it.' Your next Hearts read: New Hearts kit revealed for season 2025/26
Scottish Sun
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Robbie Neilson interested in THREE vacant SPFL manager jobs as ex-Hearts boss says ‘it's just about making sure it fits'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ROBBIE NEILSON wants a quick return to Scottish football after his American adventure was cut short. The former Hearts, Dundee United and MK Dons boss came home last month after being sacked following an 18-month spell with second-tier outfit Tampa Bay Rowdies. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Derek McGregor with Robbie Neilson Credit: Willie Vass 2 Neilson was last in Scottish football with Hearts Credit: Willie Vass Neilson, talking exclusively to SunSport's YouTube One-on-One podcast, is hungry for a new opportunity. And he's keeping a close eye on the vacancies at Dundee, Motherwell and Partick Thistle. Asked if they were positions of interest, the 44-year-old said: 'Yes, definitely. 'I really missed the intensity of the Scottish game. 'When you've been out of it for a while you want to get back into it. So all these clubs would be very interesting. 'It's just making sure it's a fit. Do they see something in me they want, and vice versa. 'I'll see how it goes in the next couple of weeks. At this time I'm open to anything. 'I've got plenty to offer my next job. I've had promotions, title wins, cup finals and European football. I took the Tampa Bay Rowdies job for a change. 'I'd obviously been in Scotland and England all of my career, so I wanted something different and it was a great opportunity. 'I thought I could go and experience a different culture, a different style of football, a different lifestyle. Legendary Hearts manager Jim Jefferies reveals he was dead for more than four minutes as he opens up on major health scare 'It was a great experience, cut short a bit as I was only there for 18 months. But all in all, it was something that I really valued and it's helped make me a better coach. 'What I really missed was the intensity of the game here. 'Everything there is more about the product you put on the pitch. Results weren't a massive thing. 'Whereas here, it's the No 1 sport. 'That intensity before the game, that's what I started to really miss. 'Getting back to that environment is something I'm looking forward to.' Neilson insisted he had no problems dealing with the sack from Hearts in 2023 which abruptly ended his second spell in charge. A 2006 Scottish Cup winner with the club as a player, he was axed after missing out on third spot to Aberdeen. But the three-time Championship title winner admits it was probably the right decision for both parties. He added: 'To be honest, it's part and parcel of the game. 'When I left MK Dons, that was the first time it had happened to me and it was really difficult. The second time, it's part of the game. 'I spoke to a lot of managers about it, like Alex Smith and Craig Levein, and you have to get used to it. 'If you can go somewhere for two or three years you've done really well. 'It had come to that point where we were both drifting, me as a coach and them as a club. It was probably the right thing to do. 'But you learn every time you come out of a job. 'You want to leave a club in a better place than when you took over and the majority of clubs I've been at I've managed to do that.' Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Otago Daily Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Neilson awarded Country Music Honour
Performing at the Country Music Honours last night in Gore are (from left) Maia Fletcher, Nicola Mitchell and Liv Cochrane. PHOTOS: ELLA SCOTT-FLEMING A piece of country royalty was beamed into Gore last night. Willie Nelson was on screen at the St James Theatre via video to end a touching six-minute tribute to Tami Neilson. She received the inaugural Country Music Honour for contribution to country music in New Zealand. Top country music artists from across the country gathered for the Country Music Honours event, beginning the 10-day Tussock Country festival. During the proceedings, two songwriting awards were announced. South Island songwriter Holly Arrowsmith was presented with the Apra Best Country Music Song Award for the title track from her 2024 album Blue Dreams. The new mother, whose album delved into life as a first-time parent, was thrilled to win. The Country Music Honour for the MLT Songwriting Award, which is for unreleased originals from New Zealand, went to Gore's own Nicola Mitchell, alongside her fellow wāhine Māori Byllie-Jean Zeta and Em-Hayley, for the song Wā/Time. Returning from a full-immersion te reo course in Ōtaki in the Kapiti Coast, Ms Mitchell is teaching a Folk Waiata-writing workshop during the festival with her twin sister Maegan on Tuesday. Nominees for the Apra Best Country Music Song award (from left) Holly Arrowsmith, Tami Neilson and Mel Parsons. The twins, their older sister Jenny and father Ron will be taking over the Saint James today for their first official eponymous show. She will also be hosting a waiata-writing workshop for children under her persona Niccolo Piccolo on Wednesday. Catlins-based songwriter Lachie Hayes was the runner-up for the MLT Award with his song A Short Time. A video celebrating Ms Neilson's career was played including tributes from fellow artists the Topp Twins, RNZ's Jesse Mulligan and 92-year-old Nelson. Nelson, in a brief appearance right at the end of the video, congratulated Ms Neilson and said "those who lead give light to those who follow". New Zealand artist and producer Delaney Davidson said Ms Neilson came into his life "like a bolt of lightning, out of nowhere" while he and fellow artist Marlon Williams were working on a country sound in Lyttelton. She "kicked off his production career" by asking him to produce her song Dynamite. Much was made during the ceremony of the opportunities Ms Neilson had created for the emerging artists around her.
NZ Herald
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Tami Neilson to perform at Tauranga Arts Festival 2025
Multi-award-winning country singer Tami Neilson has been announced as one of the acts for this year's Tauranga Arts Festival. Neilson will perform at Tauranga's Holy Trinity Church on October 24 as part of the festival . Tickets go on sale this Friday and Tauranga Arts Festival general manager Sarah Cotter said those keen for a fresh dose of Neilson's musical magic should get in fast. Cotter said Neilson brought the house down when she previously performed at the Tauranga Arts Festival, and her demand was skyrocketing. 'She will be coming to us fresh from some exciting international tours, and shortly after the release of a new album. How lucky we are that she's added Tauranga to her tour that will also include Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Nelson.'
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Melinda French Gates shares the heartfelt story behind her son Rory's name
Credit: Instagram/@jenniferkgates Some names are chosen for tradition. Others for beauty. But every so often, a name is chosen to carry someone forward — a memory, a friendship, a loss. For Melinda French Gates , the name 'Rory' is inseparable from love and grief. In her new book The Next Day, the philanthropist and former Microsoft executive opens up about one of the most profound relationships of her life: her friendship with John Neilson , the man whose name she gave to her only son. The story, shared with the People and detailed in her memoir, is both deeply personal and achingly human. Melinda met Neilson shortly after joining Microsoft. Their friendship blossomed quickly, and they soon became a tight-knit foursome — Melinda and her then-husband Bill Gates , and John and his wife Emmy Ward Neilson. "I once told John that next to our children and families, Bill and I considered our relationship with John and Emmy to be one of the most important things in our life," Gates writes in The Next Day. "The four of us came together right at the threshold of adulthood, and in a way, we grew up together." But that season of closeness turned into one of sorrow when Neilson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma(a type of blood cancer). As the cancer progressed aggressively, Melinda, pregnant at the time, found herself facing the devastating intersection of birth and death. Credit: Instagram/@MelindaFrenchGates "The days that followed were restless and eerie," she writes. "Any day now, my son would be entering the world. Any day now, my best friend would be leaving it. There was anticipation and dread, joy and grief." As her due date neared, she and Bill decided she would be induced. Before heading to the hospital, she made sure to visit Neilson, unsure whether he'd still be alive when she returned. "I didn't want to miss my chance to say goodbye," she recalls. By then, Neilson didn't have the strength for long visits. Their final conversation was brief but left a lasting imprint. "It was short but wrenching," she writes. "I told him I loved him. And I told him I would be giving his name to my son." John didn't pass that night. In fact, the last photo Melinda French Gates has of them together is on Neilson's porch — she had just left the hospital, and her newborn son rested in Neilson's lap. 'There's joy in that picture, too,' she writes, 'because on his lap, he's holding my son, Rory Gates. Rory John Gates .' In an interview with PEOPLE, she admitted, 'That was really seminal in my life. And yet I felt so good about the way I wrote that chapter.' "I was like, 'Will John feel like I wrote it in a true, authentic voice?' Yes," she added. "And of course, I showed his wife and she didn't ask me to change anything." In honoring her friend with her son's name, Melinda French Gates didn't just memorialize a beloved figure from her past. She gave her child a legacy of connection, gratitude, and enduring friendship — the kind that shapes not only names, but lives. Credit: Facebook/ Melinda French Gates All about Rory John Gates Born on May 23, 1999, Rory John Gates has largely stayed out of the spotlight despite being the only son of two of the world's most well-known philanthropists. A dedicated scholar, Rory completed both a double major and a master's degree at the University of Chicago — all within just four years. His academic journey is a testament to his intellect and drive, but it's his character that Melinda French Gates has praised most publicly. In a 2017 TIME essay, she described her son as 'compassionate and curious,' adding that he's 'intelligent and well-read.' She also highlighted his strong commitment to gender equality — a value he's upheld since he was a teenager. 'Across 18 years of conversations, sharp observations and everyday actions, he's demonstrated his belief that gender equality is something worth standing up for,' she wrote. While Rory keeps a low profile and avoids public life, his professional path speaks volumes about his values. According to his LinkedIn profile, he currently serves as an analyst for the Afghanistan War Commission — a role that suggests both analytical rigor and a deep engagement with global affairs. Future-Proof Your Child with AI Skills | Limited Early Bird Seats – 33% OFF! | WhatsApp: 9560500838
