Hearts sporting director Joe Savage says future is bright for club

Joe Savage is a man with a passion for history but it’s the future he is planning to change.

For the uninitiated, Savage is sporting director at Hearts and has presided over the Edinburgh club’s startling transformation that sees them sit third in the Scottish Premier League with a Scottish Cup final to come and European football already secured.

Breaking the 'Old Firm' stranglehold is the goal and their current trajectory suggests they are at least on course. It's certainly a far cry from fan protests that blighted the club a year ago amid demands for chairman Ann Budge to quit.

For that, Savage is quick to lay praise at the feet of manager Robbie Neilson.

'The manager has done brilliantly,' says the 37-year-old Savage. 'When we got promotion from the Championship last summer he decided to flip his formation and tactics to make a greater impact on the Premiership and to suit the players we were bringing in. 

'He wanted young, hungry players and told them he would provide a platform so they could showcase their talents in a good league with the challenge to take on Rangers and Celtic.

'There is pressure to win here, the fans demand it and Robbie knows that better than anyone having played here too. He wants players who can thrive on that expectation and so far they have risen to it.'

Neilson's enthusiasm for the fight obviously rubbed off when they opened talks to sign Australian Olympics star Cammy Devlin last summer.

'We were on Zoom,' says Savage, 'and Robbie had talked up what we were about then asked Cammy how he likes to play and Cammy replied ''Oh I love to kick people! I don't mind mixing it, I'm in it to win it.'' Robbie was like ''he'll do for me''.

'It wasn't about the aggression so much, it was that