Why Andy Halliday is a shrewd signing by Hearts as former Rangers midfielder checks in

Neilson gives insight into new recruit

Andy Halliday is a new addition to the Hearts midfield.

Signing Andy Halliday represents shrewd business by Hearts. Any 28-year-old with experience of Scottish, English and European football should be a prized commodity at a club seeking promotion to the Premiership.

Halliday was released by Rangers in May, his CV boasting Europa League outings against teams like Villarreal, Spartak Moscow and Rapid Vienna. Yet Hearts want him for his knowledge of places like Dumfries, Alloa and Greenock.

He won the Championship title with Rangers in 2016, a year after Robbie Neilson guided Hearts to the same feat in the same division. Neilson is now back at Tynecastle Park trying to replicate that success. Recruiting Halliday as a free agent on a two-year deal is an astute move.

“I’m delighted to have him, especially this season because Andy has played in the league we are competing in. He has been there with Rangers and he knows all the ins and outs of it,” Neilson told the Evening News.

“He knows what you need to do to get out of this division and I think that is really important.

“The difficulty is when you bring players in and they don’t understand what it’s like to go to Queen of the South, to Arbroath, to Alloa, to Morton. These are all difficult places to go and get results.

“He has done all of that so he’s got the experience. He should be a really good addition.”

Although capable of playing left-back, Halliday joins Hearts as a central midfielder. He may find himself paired with Peter Haring in a combative but technical engine room.

“Andy is a winner, he’s been with Rangers and won the Championship title with them,” added Neilson. “He’s played in big games and he’s a good age as well. He’s still at the peak of his career and will bring a bit of aggression to our midfield.

“We felt we needed a bit more strength in there so I’m really pleased to get him. It’s an important signing for us.”

Halliday would have signed weeks ago had Neilson got his way. “I’d heard he was going to go down south because there were a number of clubs in England interested in him. For that reason, we didn’t think it was going to be possible to bring him to Hearts.

“We had basically accepted that it would be difficult to get him so we kind of hit it on the head and looked elsewhere. Then it came up again last week.

“The market down in England has changed a bit with Covid and now no fans getting into stadiums. That gave us the chance to make our move.”

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