Expect a very different Hearts by the end of next month

ALLY McCOIST insisted he didn't want to be seen to be "hovering like a vulture" but you can be sure the Rangers manager will be monitoring the situation.

So will many others, looking for possible bargains or players who, in a normal situation, wouldn't be on the market midway through a season.

Yes, the great Hearts fire sale will soon be under way, with no player off limits and every reasonable offer considered. Owner Vladimir Romanov is, supposedly, keen to offload the club having grown disillusioned with football but, until any takeover deal can be struck, Hearts will make every effort to reduce their costs by shipping out high earners and players they hope could bring in a reasonable fee. If it is as extreme as has been suggested, then, by the end of January, manager Paulo Sergio could be left in charge of a group of inexperienced teenagers.

The players, you assume, will not drag their heels too much given they have not been paid on time for three months in a row and are yet to receive their December wage, with the Scottish Premier League announcing yesterday they will consider the matter further at a meeting on January 4.

Andrew Driver has already declared a willingness to move on from Tynecastle, more in response to not being picked than not being paid, admittedly, and others will surely also consider any offers that come their way. Not all will end up at bigger or better clubs but at least they will be guaranteed to be paid on time, surely a basic right for an employee in any walk of life.

Hearts are taking a proactive approach to shedding players from their wage bill. Some of their younger fringe players, including Calum Elliot and Gary Glen, have had their contracts torn up and will be free to sign for other clubs come January 1. The names of the more saleable assets with proposed valuations are thought to have been circulated to clubs in England, a bit like a bride and groom hopefully sending out their wedding gift list in advance of the big day.

The problem facing Romanov et al is that those who might be interested in taking their assets off their hands know they are desperate for revenue. In a swoop, the whole element of transfer brinkmanship is gone, Hearts no longer able to put on their best poker face and pretend they didn't want to sell anyway, as they turn down derisory offers in the hope to prise more money from their suitors. Any reasonable bid will surely be accepted without much bartering.

This is not a stellar Hearts team by any stretch of the imagination but, as Saturday's 4-0 win over Dunfermline Athletic showed, they are not without talent. As the third biggest club in Scotland, and with salaries to match (when paid), there will be few others in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League able to offer them the sort of package that may prove enticing, although the more realistic among the squad may appreciate that what Hearts were paying them, and what they are worth, are not necessarily the same thing.

Rangers and Celtic could offer salaries more on a par with their contracts at Tynecastle and it will be interesting to see which players crop up on the Old Firm radar. Rangers could certainly do with a wide player in the mould of Driver or David Templeton, and are also thought to have designs on Ryan Stevenson, an attacking midfielder who can double as an auxiliary forward. Eggert Jonsson is another versatile operator who would prove a useful addition to either squad, while John Sutton would make for an intriguing signing at either club.

The rest, though, seem destined for England or overseas. The likes of Stephen Elliott, Danny Grainger, Jamie Hamill and Ian Black would surely not struggle to land work (better-paid) in the Championship or League One, while clubs on the continent may take a chance on Marius Zaliukas, Marian Kello, Rudi Skacel, Suso Santana, Adrian Mrowiec and Mehdi Taouil were they available at a knockdown rate or on a free.

In their stead will come the Hearts academy squad, pitched into the competitive arena of first-team football after a brief apprenticeship out on loan, a move pre-empted by the decision to promote John Murray from his role of academy director to that of director of football. He may end up becoming the most important man at Tynecastle if the worst comes to pass.

Taken from the Herald