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Hearts technical director arrives Saturday
A highly-placed source close to the club confirmed to the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday that Hearts were still fine-tuning the contract ahead of the arrival of the 46-year-old technical brain.
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“We are expecting him to arrive on Saturday but we have not concluded the negotiations with him,” the source noted.
Contrary to speculations that the Portuguese trainer was coming to replace Coach Edward Odoom who has been acting since the dismissal of Kim Grant, the source said Pinto’s role would mainly be advisory to the coach and not to take over his job.
“He would be in charge of Pobiman and also work with scouts and the technical team. The coach will work under him but he would not take over as the coach of the club,” the source explained.
The Portuguese has a depth of experience, having previously managed Angolan clubs: Club Recreativo da Caala and Recreativo de Libolo, as well as Ethiopian giants, Saint George SA.
Pinto last handled FC Famalicão’s U-23 side where he worked from September 2019 to June 2020, and played 26 matches.
When the deal is finally sealed, Pinto will be the second Portuguese trainer to have joined the Phobian club after Sergio Traguil, who took over the club in 2016 but was shown the exit before the end of the season.
His appointment will also add to the increasing number of foreign coaches who have worked with the club in recent times, including Frank Nuttall from Scotland and Japanese-American Kenichi Yatsuhashi.
The rest are Nebojsa Vucicevic and Kosta Papic of Serbia, who won Hearts’ last league title in 2009, Israeli Eyal Lachman, German Ernst Middendorp and Petre Gavrila of Romania.