Joe Savage cares not for 'deluded' criticism as Hearts retain sky-high ambitions

Joe Savage says he’s not bothered if people think he’s deluded for believing he can one day help Hearts to win the Scottish Premiership league title.

The club’s sporting director reiterated the mindset at Tynecastle when interviewed by Sky Sports News just eight days prior to the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign.

Savage previously spoke of the desire to slowly build Hearts into a team capable of bettering Celtic and Rangers at the top end of the table and he insists that plan has not wavered one bit.

"We want to win the league. That's my personal ambition,” he said. “People could call me deluded for that, but it's 11 men vs 11 men on the football pitch. If we're organised, and we train and play properly like Robbie and his coaches do, there's every chance we can do that.

Hearts sporting director Joe Savage insists a title win should be the club's ambition. Picture: SNS

"Am I saying that it's going to happen in the next two or three years? Probably not. But why am I here? Finishing third and fourth sounds good but why would you not want to try and win the league?

"I know it's going to be difficult, I'm not trying to say we'll do it any time soon, but that's the ultimate ambition. When we sign players, we're trying to tell them that. 'Come here and help us whip them, help us try and get there.' It might not happen but it won't be for the lack of trying."

In the interview with the league’s broadcaster Savage also echoed the words of head coach Robbie Neilson in Friday’s Evening News regarding what the club have left to do in the transfer market.

"We lost quite a few players last season. We had four players on loan and we lost John Souttar and a few others, like Aaron McEneff who moved recently. We always planned that we needed eight or nine. We've done six, so there's another three that we need to get,” said Savage.

"It's been well documented we're in for another centre-back, another central midfielder, and probably another attacker. We're trying to see what's out there, we're in talks with a few people to see what can be done."

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