Danny Wilson reveals Hearts job worry

By ANTHONY BROWN
Published on 06/07/2013 12:30

NEW captain Danny Wilson revealed he made it clear to Hearts’ administrators BDO that he would only agree to sign for the club if no more staff were laid off.

The 21-year-old defender saw his on-off move to Tynecastle unexpectedly revived last week, just days after a raft of staff had been made redundant as a result of 
the club entering into 
administration.

Although thrilled at the prospect of signing for Hearts, Wilson had to ponder the morality of going through with the deal – albeit having agreed a significant paycut – while others were losing their jobs.

“Yeah, absolutely,” when asked if he felt an element of guilt about the climate in which his move came about. “I did have a meeting with the administrators before I signed and that was one of the main things I spoke about. It’s terrible people losing their jobs and I did feel bad. I said to the administrator that if me coming back in any way harms the club further, that I didn’t want to do it.

“I told them my feelings on the whole thing and they said that hopefully no more redundancies will be made. He said to me it wouldn’t be that way. Once they said that and that the club was on a better footing now than when it first went into administration – you’ve seen the reaction from the fans by buying season tickets – I could only go on that. I was desperate to stay and once it became clear that I could stay, I was happy to do that.

“Hopefully when the club gets back on it’s feet there is a chance for [those made redundant] to come back and get their jobs back. That was probably my main thought process anyway, how I felt about people losing their jobs.”

While some have frowned at the timing of the move, Wilson knows the administrators are merely endeavouring to weigh up cost-cutting against ensuring the team retains a semblance of competitiveness in order to keep generating income going forward.

“Getting a team out on the pitch that is going to be competitive is obviously going to help the club get through these couple of months,” added Wilson. “I did feel bad about it, I took the cut, I did what I could to make me coming back as less financially straining for the club as possible.”

Meanwhile, Hearts have been told that the pre-season tournament they are due to compete in Ballymena, Belfast is under no threat despite the withdrawal of Celta Vigo. Gary Locke’s side were due to meet the Spanish outfit on Thursday, July 25, but tournament organisers hope to have a replacement club confirmed this weekend.

Taken from the Scotsman