Hearts re-building - amid SFA disgrace

fter the euphoria of our Cup triumph over Hibs, the reality of Scottish football has now taken over as the new season beckons. The current financial imbalance at Hearts has meant drastic cuts in new contracts - and many of our Hampden heroes have departed.

I always suspected that Paulo and his 2 assistants would simply be too expensive for Hearts, and that proved to be the case. But credit is due to Hearts for conducting the search for a replacement quite efficiently - culminating in the appointment of John McGlynn, whose experience at Raith Rovers is probably ideal for the way Hearts will have to operate this season.

The appointment of Edgaras Jankauksas as assistant will have taken many fans by surprise. After just one season coaching at Lokomotiv Moscow, Vladimir has persuaded him to return to Tynecastle as McGlynn`s assistant. What can Gary Locke be feeling, I wonder ? Given the average life expectancy of a Hearts manager under Romanov is 9-15 months, this could be an "insurance policy" move by our owner. Let`s hope everyone "gets on" with each other !!

With cutbacks already the main driver at most clubs, the Rangers situation has become the central talking point this summer. There have been so many unbelievable twists in this story, from initial administration to the bizarre Charles Green bid being accepted and rejection of the CVA.

The huge fan pressure on SPL clubs to vote against allowing the "newco" Rangers to remain in the top league had the desired outcome, despite ridiculous comments from Neil Doncaster trying to delay the vote until after the SFL had produced an opinion on which league Rangers might play in. Well done to the SPL clubs for holding the vote, and letting everyone see that a club who have damaged our game`s reputation for decades and who used liquidation to leave creditors high and dry will not be able to carry on as if nothing has happened.



ut now it looks like the most unbelievable piece of corrupt thinking is about to take place - namely the outrageous fabrication of reality by the SFA that we`ve ever heard, as they try to steamroller SFL clubs into ignoring their own rules by voting "newco" Rangers straight into Divison 1 - apparently to avoid the "slow lingering death of Scottish football" (to quote Stewart Regan).

Does Regan actually believe that Scottish football is in a healthy state currently ? If our game is truly dependent on visiting Old Firm fans, and on Sky income because of the 4 Old Firm matches they can show, then we might as well put up the shutters and abandon the whole competition. There can be no point in continuing with this farce any longer.



Regan has decided that the only lifeboat available to Scottish football now is to limit Rangers` absence to 1 season, but his comments simply amount to an embarrassing admission of failure.

ailure to enable realistic competition on the park… failure to ensure equitable distribution of sponsor/TV money….. failure to monitor clubs overspending …. failure to see beyond the Old Firm agenda.

He seems to think that £5m per year will be lost to "the game" without Rangers in the SPL. Even if that figure has some credibility, most of that "loss" will be to Rangers and Celtic since they are the main benefactors of TV and prize money now. So SFL clubs will be asked to vote 'yes' in order to benefit Celtic and Rangers - not 'the game' in general. The rest of the clubs will take a hit, that`s true, but is there anything morally wrong wth a period of positive correction as far as football economics is concerned ? A clearer path for good young players to get first-team football must surely be a good thing, instead of seeing their progression halted by some overpaid mercenary players from afar.

It seems that among the "sweeteners" in the proposal to be voted on at their meeting on 13th July is that "newco" Rangers will have to honour the football debts of the previous Rangers. So are we to deduce that if the proposal is voted down, the SFA will NOT insist on the debt clearance ? Will they accept the application from "newco" Rangers for an SFA licence without insisting that other member clubs have their losses reimbursed from future Rangers` prize/sponsor money ?

f so, then it is a further sign that our sport administration is a disgrace. How can the the governing bodies be ready to fine Hearts for paying their players a a few days late, yet appear to be ready to wave the newco through with no responsibility for past debts ?

The whole Rangers saga has many months - maybe years - to run. Having voted against the CVA, HMRC will no doubt have a strategy for recovering a better chunk of what they are owed. Legal cases could last for years.

As Hearts supporters, we should be pleased that our club voted responsibly last week - now we need to support them financially in their hour of need.

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