“We could play at four in the morning and our fans would be there” – McInnes
Amid rising title talk, Derek McInnes insists Hearts have to “concentrate on winning games of football” when they resume their campaign against Kilmarnock on Saturday evening. Addressing the media on Thursday, McInnes observed a sense of “calm” within the squad ahead of a defining run of games. “It’s down to the efforts of the players, how well they’ve done. The focus has been great. The last couple of games have really pleased us in the sense that we’ve got the desired outcome. “But the performances have been good as well. We just need to refocus on the next challenge.” “If we can replicate a lot of what we’ve done between the start of the season and now, then we’ll put ourselves in with a chance. But with nine games to go, there’s still almost a quarter of the season, 27 points to win, 27 points that you can lose.” McInnes revealed stalwarts Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland will return to full training next week, but the Kilmarnock match will come “too soon” for both players. The manager also lauded the support of the travelling Gorgie fans, 5000 of whom will pack out the Rugby Park away end. “We feel as if they just want to follow us, and the backing we get home and away has been first class this season, and they’ve got a huge part to play, so when we run out at Rugby Park for the warm up, and the lads see that it feels like a big game right away.” Hearts face Kilmarnock on Saturday evening, looking to maintain their lead at the summit of the Scottish Premiership.
Stephen Robinson swaps Paisley for the Granite City
Aberdeen have this morning announced Stephen Robinson as their new first-team manager on a three-year deal. Aberdeen’s two-month wait for a manager since Jimmy Thelin departed has came to an end as Stephen Robinson has agreed to become the new boss in the Granite City. Robinson started managing in the youth systems of the Northern Irish National Team, managing the U17s, U19s and U21s before joining Oldham Athletic in 2016 where the Ex-St Mirren man was let go following a poor run. Stephen then agreed to join the Steelmen making his move to Motherwell in 2017 guiding the Fir Park side to a third place finish as well as qualification into the Europa League Qualifiers. He also let the Steelmen to two cup finals – losing both to Celtic. He then moved onto Morecambe before joining the Buddies where he gained three back-to-back top six finishes as well as bringing European Football back to St Mirren. He also brought home silverware at the beginning of the current campaign, defeating Celtic 3-1 in the Scottish League Cup final. Robinson has been at the heart of giving youngsters the chance and developing well which saw them gain big moves down south as we saw with Evan Mooney making the switch to Arsenal. New Dons boss, Stephen Robinson said: “When this opportunity arose, there was no way I could turn it down. “Aberdeen has a tremendous history and there’s no mistaking it is a huge Club. The facilities and resources that will be at my disposal are excellent and more importantly, the fan base is tremendous so I’m excited to work for a Club of this size and strive to take it forward. “I appreciate it has been a tough period for everyone, but players respond to positivity so we’ve got to stick together going forward. “We will put a team out on the pitch to get the points we need to finish this season as strongly as we can. “Aberdeen have clear ambition but it needs an identity, it needs direction and I aim to give the club that so we need everyone to get behind myself, the staff and the players.” AFC Sporting Director, Lutz Pfannenstiel, said: “Results have clearly not been what we had hoped for or expected in recent weeks. “The Board and I recognised we needed a new Head Coach in position sooner rather than later and Stephen, who was part of this process from the outset, was the clear candidate to take on the role now. “He is a highly experienced coach with a strong track record of delivering results in this league and we believe he will bring stability in the short term whilst also providing the vision to build success for this club in the future.” Aberdeen have a tricky run of fixtures with meetings against Falkirk, Rangers and Hibernian coming up as well as a trip to his former side, St Mirren in Paisley.
