Joe Savage insists he won't go chasing a return south of the border as he explains what makes his Hearts relationship with Robbie Neilson tick.
The Tynecastle sporting director has picked up plenty of plaudits for his work in the transfer market that has helped propel the Jambos to Scotland's third force. They are in pole position again to claim that spot in the Premiership despite a 2-0 loss at Motherwell last weekend, with Savage happy with Edinburgh work.
He's previously spent time south of the border at clubs like Norwich City and Preston, but he tells The Times winning a trophy is part of the reason he wants to remain in Gorgie for the long haul. He said: "I love the job and love the club. I'd love to win something here. I've heard the stories about the open-top bus parades for the Scottish Cup. I've worked in England before, liked the way of life, liked living down there. I'm not in any rush to leave here. If an opportunity presented itself, I would look at it. But I wouldn't be rushing out for a wee bit more money. One thing I'm in football for is to win things.
"I don't want to sound arrogant, but I'm not interested in fighting a relegation battle. That probably rules me out of three quarters of the jobs out there, but that's my way of working."
One of his key mantras when it comes to attracting stars like Kye Rowles, Lawrence Shankland and Robert Snodgrass is that manager Neilson gets the final say. Data is also used as an important pillar.
But Savage believes it's vital that boss Neilson - and every other manager - gets the definitive call on who they want in their squad, regardless of his opinion. He explained: "It's crucial that you have a relationship with a manager and understand what he wants in players.
"You don't have to agree with him. It's up to you to go and identify the sort of players he wants, and he has to trust your eye to get these players, trust that you understand what he's looking for.
"The relationship between a chief scout, director of football and a manager is crucial. The manager has to really, really trust all the scouts to sign the right players, because recruitment is so important. If you're not signing the right players, the manager gets sacked. So the recruitment staff have to be accountable, make sure it doesn't happen.
"At Hearts we have KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) of what we think a Hearts player looks like, how we want our right back to play, how we want our centre back to play. They have to tick these KPIs, but we're data-informed, not data-driven or data-led.
"We always meet the player. Robbie likes to look them in the eye and he's brilliant, with all his experience here, which means he knows what it's like. He explains to players that they're coming to a cauldron, that it can be a difficult place to play.
"I don't agree with any club that doesn't give the manager final say on signing a player, the manager has to have the final decision. If I sign a player that Robbie doesn't rate, we're wasting money.
"He trusts the process because he does all his due diligence, watches the player, gets character references. Myself and the scout will put a list of maybe five players to him. He's never turned round and said he doesn't like any of them. He'll maybe like two or three, tell us to go and see what I can do.
"That's when I step in, negotiating with the agent and the club. Robbie sitting down with the player is the most important part.
"It's all right me selling the club to them. I don't pick the team, I'm not the one coaching them, when Robbie sits down with them, you can see the boys take in everything he says. Touch wood, it's been working for us."
