Hearts have sacked their manager Robbie Neilson after almost three years in charge, following the 2-0 home defeat against St Mirren on Saturday. The 42-year-old came under criticism from supporters at Tynecastle on Saturday as his side slumped to a fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions. The setback took Hearts down to fourth place in the Scottish Premiership, with Aberdeen moving up to third. A club statement released on Sunday read: “Heart of Midlothian Football Club can confirm that it has parted company with manager Robbie Neilson. “Robbie has been a key part of the club’s ascent back to the upper echelons of Scottish football, delivering another Championship title, a third-place finish, two Scottish Cup finals and European group-stage football in the process. “This was an extremely difficult decision to reach, and we would like to thank Robbie for all of his efforts. A full statement from the board of directors will be released in due course. No further comment will be made today.” Last week, the Hearts ownership group, Foundation of Hearts, had condemned graffiti outside Tynecastle targeting Neilson as “a pathetic act of vandalism”. After making 200 appearances for Hearts as a player, helping the club to win the 2006 Scottish Cup, Neilson first became the Jambos’ head coach in 2014, departing for MK Dons in 2016. He returned in the summer of 2020 after securing promotion to the top flight with Dundee United, repeating the trick with Hearts in the 2020-21 campaign. A third-placed finish last season, coupled with a Scottish Cup final defeat by Rangers, led to Hearts securing an extended run in Europe in the Conference League group stage. They looked odds-on to repeat that league result when they thrashed Aberdeen 5-0 in January to move seven points clear in third and nine ahead of the Dons. But their season began to unravel with defeats against Motherwell, Celtic, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and St Mirren in their last six league games, as well as a 3-0 home defeat in the Scottish Cup against the Hoops. Neilson expressed belief he could turn their form around immediately after the defeat on Saturday against the Buddies. “I’ve done it before and it’s part of being a manager,” he said. “You’re not going to win every single game and we’re going through this difficult period, but we have to continue to believe in what we’re doing.” Steven Naismith has been in charge of the club’s B team in the Lowland League this season and the former Scotland striker could potentially be involved with the first team on an interim basis for the final seven matches of the season. Late winner boosts Tangerines’ survival hopes Jamie McGrath scored a last-minute penalty as Dundee United beat Hibernian 2-1, the Premiership’s bottom side earning a first victory in 12 matches. Jim Goodwin’s side looked set to pay for missed chances until Will Fish’s clumsy challenge on Steven Fletcher allowed McGrath the chance to secure victory. Fletcher had given United an early lead against his former club, but the substitute Mykola Kuharevich equalised in the 70th minute. United are back to two points behind Ross County – who won 2-0 at St Johnstone on Saturday – and just three behind Kilmarnock in the battle to avoid relegation. “We had to go and win the game because the gap was getting too big,” Goodwin said afterwards. “Hopefully that will show the teams above that this group of players are not done yet,” the manager added after securing a first win of his tenure. “There is still a lot of fight left in them and a lot of football to be played. We’ll be up for the battle.”