Only fools will write off Boycie
ROBBIE NEILSON has vowed to build his Hearts team around Liam Boyce – after signing a trio to put the ball on a plate for him.
Wingers Jordan Roberts, Josh Ginnelly and Elliott Frear arrived this summer.
Boyce grabbed two goals in 10 games after joining from Burton in January.
But Neilson wants to help him take the Championship by storm after watching him turn top scorer in the top flight before heading south three years ago.
He said: “Look at his time at Ross County, that was his bread and butter. He had Craig Curran making movements in behind and Michael Gardyne putting balls into the box for him.
“We need to play to our players’ strengths and we’ve got a good mix now. Maybe last season we weren’t quite playing to Boycie’s strengths.
“But bringing in the players we have will bring him on as well, which is important because he is our main striker.
“We’ve got players who want to play forward, want to be aggressive and want to go at people one v one.
“That’s what Hearts fans want – they want to see excitement and balls in the box. We’ve brought in players who will do that.
“It’s also what I want to see as a manager. I want us to be getting through teams and scoring goals.”
Defender Mihai Popescu, on loan at St Mirren last year, is among the new faces in Gorgie after joining from Dinamo Bucharest.
Neilson was already well aware of the Romanian after he helped dump his old team, Dundee United, in the Premiership play-off final.
The Jambos boss added: “He can carry the ball out of defence as well and I know he’s got the bottle to play big games.”