Robbie: Delight at new deal

The manager, along with his assistants Gordon Forrest and Lee McCulloch, extended their reign at Tynecastle Park until the summer of 2025 this week after a successful two years in the role.
 
The trio arrived in Gorgie during the summer of 2020, with Robbie returning for a second stint as gaffer after leaving in 2016. Now with so many exciting things happening in and around the club, the boss says he’s happy to call Hearts home for the foreseeable.
 
“I’m pleased. We’ve been speaking about if for a couple of months so to get it sorted is great. It allows us to fully focus on the season ahead,” he told the media.
 
“First and foremost, I’ve really enjoyed my time back at Hearts. It’s a fantastic club to be at, and the team is doing really well. The board have been great, the Foundation of Hearts have been great, and there’s a platform now to build forward.
 
“The club came to me about renewing it and I was delighted to do it. I’m looking forward to getting started again; pre-season has run for about six or seven weeks now. Our objective is to try and win every game and that starts on Saturday against Ross County.”
 
The Staggies arrive in the capital for our cinch Premiership curtain-raiser on Saturday, with Malky Mackay’s men in a period of transition after losing key men in the summer window.
 
Robbie expects County to maintain the stern performance levels that earned them a top-six spot in 2021/22 in the face of these departures, and offered a squad update of his own.
 
“I’m delighted with where the squad is at,” he explained. “We’ve got strength in all the positions and now it’s a case of bringing in a few more players who can add a bit of quality as well. Ginnelly was back on the pitch today, so we’re looking all good.
 
“We’ve had a chance to look at County because of the Premier Sports Cup games. It’s a similar style to last year with Malky and we’re expecting more of the same. They lost good players in Blair Spittal and Charles-Cook, but I still expect them to be competitive.”