Peter Haring admits he didn’t want to rush into anything after Hearts offered him a new contract.
But after the Austrian helped take care of European qualification, there was nowhere else he wanted to be next season. As the likes of Craig Gordon, Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley, barrie McKay and Andy Halliday all put pen to paper on extensions, a question remained over Haring’s future.
At one stage, he was the only senior player not tied down beyond the summer, barring John Souttar, who had already agreed a switch to Rangers. Beni Baningime suffering a long term injury perhaps helped speed things along after he was ruled out for up to nine months with a knee ligament injury. Less than week later, Robbie Neilson confirmed that an offer had been made to Haring and it was a case of waiting on an answer. With third place and a Scottish Cup final still to secure, the 29-year-old was focused on getting the job done last season before deciding where he might be after the summer.
Successive victories over Hibs in as many weeks saw both objectives achieved, although the campaign ended on a downer following an extra-time defeat to Rangers. That meant it was three Scottish Cup final defeats in four years for Haring. But looking at the bigger picture made it easier to shake off the disappointment of an unwanted Hampden hat-trick, with a first ever sojourn into continental competition to look forward to.
And that just hammered home to Haring that home is where the Hearts are. “(The delay) was due to the circumstances as well, fortunately we had such a busy end with big games,” he said.
“You talk for a bit and then want to focus on the football, that’s the reason why it took a bit longer as well. Of course I am happy to re-sign.
“I spoke to the gaffer when he offered me to stay longer and I said I have been here four years now and I don’t want to rush into anything and he was great.
"He totally understood that but then after thinking about it, it was pretty quickly that I made the decision to stay for longer. Of course, agents are always working in the background and doing their stuff but nothing where I thought that's what I would prefer. I didn’t think too much about it, I just tried to get it sorted here.
“It was still very early, when I re-signed the transfer window was not even open. The challenge of the coming season with European football, it will be a really busy schedule and that was something that was really attractive to me.”
Souttar’s departure for Ibrox bumped Haring up the list in terms of dressing seniority. After Michael Smith, he’s now the longest serving player in the squad, having arrived in 2018 under Craig Levein.
He knows the ropes as it were, but stresses he’ll be the same guy he’s always been when it comes to setting standards.
“I think after Soapy left it is just Mick,” he said of the long-service club.
“It’s no different to how it was last year, if I have to take responsibility it’s no problem for me, if anyone needs anything I’m here for the new players. I have been here for four years now, after Mick the second longest. I know the ins and outs quite well.
“I never thought when I first joined I would be here for four years, you don’t know what will happen in football. Even after four years it’s still exciting to be here, to see what is ahead and I’m still proud to be part of the club. It’s a great place, on the football side and the facilities are great, the stadium. The fans are unbelievable, as we’ve seen with the season ticket sales. It’s a great place to be at the moment.”
Those season ticket sales are mightily impressive. The club confirmed a sell-out this week after all 15,500 that were on sale were snapped up. No wonder, with guaranteed European group stage football until November.
“It’s a reward for last season because we’ve done well enough to qualify for Europe, getting third place,” said Haring. “It's a really exciting time, with the World Cup in the winter, the schedule is going to be even busier and with Europe it’s going to be busier than it has been recently. No-one is going to know 100 per cent what it is going to be like because of Europe. I’m looking forward to a new experience for me because I have never played in Europe so far.”
It might be unfamiliar to Haring, but Neilson needs the continuity he brings if he’s to repeat last season’s heroics and make Europe a regular destination. “He knows what this place is all about after being here a number of years,” he said. “One of the big things was keeping continuity within the group. We were successful last year, we're going to add more faces but the guys who have done well have stayed so we've kept that same continuity."
