Letters: Wishful thinking from Hibs fans to predict disappearance of Hearts

Published on Monday 16 January 2012 01:17

ALEXANDER McKay (Sports View, 9 January) should acknowledge that Hearts’ superiority over Hibs is not confined to the Vladimir Romanov era, which has featured eccentric behaviour alongside occasional frenetic and ill-judged spending. At least he picked a team to win the Scottish Cup, albeit fortuitously!

To suggest the club will not be operating in a year is wishful thinking. Unlike other clubs in trouble, before or now, Hearts have comparatively minimal third-party debts.

Consequently, Romanov can only recover what a consortium or individual is prepared to pay for the assets. Romanov should not expect to have anyone recompense him for his poor judgment and errors in awarding stupid contracts to so many players, managers and staff who were neither necessary or worth it.

The quicker Romanov goes the better as far as I am concerned, but the fans have little choice but to put up with him meanwhile and support the team. Tom Farmer and Rod Petrie are no more popular but, again, fans are somewhat powerless to bring about their departure. Falling attendances at Easter Road, the protest that Hibs fans have resorted to, will not turn round that club’s fortunes. The survival strategy seems to be to gamble that someone eg Dunfermline will be even worse than Hibs. Nice accounts though.

The stadium issue raised by Mr McKay is also a bit of a red herring and populist. Circumstances are very different these days and examples of community stadia are not isolated now. Whilst taxpayers may object to the council borrowing funds to build such a venture, the tenants, of which Hearts would be the major player, would be expected to fund the interest and running costs via rent and other instruments. Hearts would then be like Hibs and not own our stadium. There would be no taxpayer subsidy in that scenario. An alternative of course would be to share Easter Road, and have Hearts subsidise Hibs.

JIM RIGBY, Viewforth Road, South Queensferry

I WOULD like to thank Alexander McKay for his concern regarding the situation at Hearts. Like many Hibernian fans, the troubles at Tynecastle seem to be of more importance to them than the dross that they have had to endure for years through countless managers and a board of directors who are happy to have a shiny, if empty, bought and paid for stadium. The main point of his letter was that if Vladimir Romanov left Hearts to their fate, this would restore the balance to the Edinburgh derby. Maybe Mr McKay has been missing something for the last 100 years or so. If he would care to consult the facts he would see that the Heart of Midlothian have always been the dominant force in Edinburgh. Long unbeaten runs, Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh, John Robertson’s goals, Wayne Foster, the Hampden semi-final, the list goes on.

I would point him in the direction of the excellent London Hearts web site. It’s all there in black and white, or rather maroon and white.

R SUTHERLAND, Corstorphine Hill Road, Edinburgh

Taken from the Scotsman