Wage delays are small change to Tynecastle squad

Derek Miller

HEARTS' weekly press conference is a time to take stock.

A typically tumultuous few days at Tynecastle have drawn the usual long faces and short statements that follow when the club fail to pay players their wages on time. You tend to forget that at the end of it all there are still points to be competed for, a game of football to be won.

That comes in a trip to Tannadice this afternoon, the chance to record their first victory in three years at the ground offering a reprieve from another week in which the club's finances have been given more attention than their points tally. They have taken six points from their opening six league matches so far but the Clydesdale Bank Premier League remains tight enough that Hearts will overhaul United should they win this afternoon.

Instead, the statistics being pored over refer to the six first-team players and two members of the club's coaching staff, including manager John McGlynn, who were made to wait on their wages this month. The situation caused many to glance back at last season as the angst from similar wage delays resurfaced.

It was a prominent theme as Arvydas Novikovas spoke ahead of Hearts' trip to Tayside, the familiarity with being asked to assess such situations leaving him circumspect. "I was paid, but I don't know about all of the other players, but the atmosphere has been the same as always, we don't speak so much about wages," said the Hearts winger.

"The delay was only of a few days so I do not believe it is something we should worry about too much. If the players had gone a month without wages then, of course, we would say it would be a problem, but it was only a few days."

Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov announced last season that he would no longer bankroll the Edinburgh club, prompting a bid to make the cash-strapped side more self-sufficient in recent months. His appearance at Anfield as Hearts faced Liverpool in the Europa League was a rare sighting of the Russian banker, whose focus at the moment appears to be on his successful basketball side BC Zalgiris and a bid to become the president of Lithuania.

However Novikovas believes Romanov is "happy" with Hearts, despite continued financial concerns. "He has his big basketball club who are winning titles and that's good for him – and us – as it means he's happy. He watched the game against Liverpool and talked to the players and he was very happy with all of us," he said.

Happy, but not as overtly enthusiastic as the club's supporters were in the eyes of UEFA. Hearts have been fined £4000 after fans spilled out of the stand at Anfield after David Templeton had given their side the lead in that Europa League qualifier last month. A UEFA statement read: "Heart of Midlothian FC have been fined 5000 [euros] by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body for 'pitch invasion by supporters' at last month's UEFA Europa League play-off second-leg match at Anfield Road between Liverpool FC and the Scottish club."

Hearts' off-field problems have yet to be eclipsed by success on the pitch but Willo Flood believes their form does not do justice to the strength of the Edinburgh side. The United midfielder had privately tipped Hearts to stage a bid for second place and has seen little reason to doubt his judgment.

"I just think at the start of the season a few teams have been inconsistent including ourselves," said Flood, whose side will be without Gregory Vignal today while Jon Daly will likely only make the bench. "The only ones who have started really well are maybe Motherwell and St Mirren, so it's been a bit up and down at the moment but, hopefully, we can start to get some points on the board.

"It's a big game for us against Hearts and they are a good side. People say they have had a bad start but they haven't really – they are only a win away from third place so it will be a tough game. I still think Hearts will be right up there at the end of the season.

"People seem to be writing them off but I don't know why. They still have good players and one of the best back fours in the league. Big John Sutton is a top player, they've still got a lot of other decent players, like Andrew Driver and Novikovas, and they'll be right up there. I'd be surprised if they weren't come the end of the season. So they will be a tough nut to crack but we've been working on it this week"

Taken from the Herald