Robbo slams booze 'lies'

Paul Kiddie

HEARTS boss John Robertson today furiously denied he’d lost his licence after drink-driving.

He told the Evening News that persistent rumours circulating in the city were "absolute nonsense" and hurtful to his family.

Stories have been sweeping the Capital that the Tynecastle manager had been convicted of drink driving.

Clearly irritated and fed up by the gossip, Robertson has decided to speak out about stories he has labelled as "hurtful" to those close to him.

"There has been a lot of stuff going on about my personal life which is a load of absolute nonsense," he said.

"I’d like to point out that I still have my car and that everything is fine with my personal life. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times you tell people that stories are not true, they keep materialising.

"The stories going about are hurtful as they have been affecting my family."

Robertson was speaking on the day his future as Hearts head coach will be on the agenda at a board meeting at Tynecastle - the directors are widely expected to give him the green light this evening to continue in the Gorgie hot seat.

Speculation has surrounded the Gorgie legend’s position ever since it emerged he has a clause in his contract which allows his post to be reviewed at the end of the season.

However, with mounting uncertainty over his long-term future, the club is set to give him the thumbs-up sooner than had been initially scheduled.

Robertson has slammed the rumours surrounding his domestic life and has vowed to shrug off the "mischief making" and continue to do his best for the club.

"These rumours are totally untrue and have been made up because of the uncertainty over my job," he said.

"I can handle the speculation over my job as you expect that kind of thing when you take on a high-profile job like this.

"But when it gets personal it goes on to a different level.

"This has all got out of hand and appears to be nothing more than mischief-making by certain people. Stories have been made up about my personal life and all of a sudden everybody is an expert on it.

"People are very good at spreading rumours but not so clever at checking them out.

"There is nothing wrong at all in my personal life.

"I am just getting on with things and concentrating on trying to do my job properly, doing my best to get us through to the end of the current season in three weeks time and looking at the rebuilding process which is required in the summer."

As part of his preparations for the new campaign, Robertson has already arranged two friendlies in Ireland in July against St Patrick’s Athletic and Bray Wanderers.

Hearts will head to Hull and Hartlepool on their return from the Emerald Isle.

The only friendly scheduled for Tynecastle is against Premiership aces Middlesbrough, Steve McLaren bring his star-studded squad to Gorgie on the evening of Tuesday, July 19.

Taken from the Scotsman