Innocents of Vlad regime

It is no surprise that Hearts are edging ever closer to the SPL precipice, their tenuous grip on the top flight loosening that bit more with every passing day as the spectre of relegation looms into view.

As a club, given how mismanaged and chaotic things have been for years now, they surely deserve to be punished for the gross negligence that has characterised Vladimir Romanov's controversial nine-year reign.

But the Tynecastle support are the wholly innocent victims in this farce and my sympathies lie entirely with them. Their loyalty deserves better than this. For years they have put up with the club lurching from one crisis to another and their patience must be at breaking point.

Now that Hearts' Lithuanian parent company UBIG has asked to be declared insolvent, we can only wait to hear what the SPL board declare when they meet tomorrow, with the docking of points a very real possibility. Hearts have tried to limp on until the final game of the season, hoping that any penalty will apply to next season rather than this.

If, though, the SPL decide Hearts have breached the rules while the current campaign remains ongoing, an 18-point penalty – a third of their tally from last season – will see them relegated. Dundee, already hurtling down the chute to the First Division, will be watching with interest. In truth, though, Hearts can only accept that in many ways the writing is on the wall now. Administration has become their most attractive option.

And what does that do for all of us connected to the Scottish game? What message does it send to potential sponsors? We have already lost our most marketable asset – the Old Firm derby – can we really afford to lose an Edinburgh derby too?

It is a sorry, sorry state of affairs. There is always a fair bit of banter between the likes of Aberdeen and Hearts and Hibs over just who is the third biggest club in the league, but there is no question that losing another big club from the SPL this summer would be an incredible blow, coming so hard on the heels of what happened at Rangers last year.

If Gary Locke really does feel the need to give Ally McCoist a ring for advice on how to handle the whole affair, then you have to hope too that he, along with the Hearts support, can avoid the kind of protracted mud-slinging that has afflicted Rangers since the club went into administration. In a sense, going into administration might be the best thing that could happen to Hearts, although that will not be easy for anyone connected to the club to stomach.

But if it meant they were able to regroup, and return with a proper business strategy to live within their means – even if that meant a dramatic loss of playing personnel – then that surely would mean the club could survive and work on finding a way forward. The same applies to so many of our top-flight clubs in this nightmare situation.

The chickens are coming home to roost. The years of paying out wages that were way beyond the financial means of clubs are now taking a serious toll. It wasn't so long ago that Hearts were paying out serious money to the likes of Steven Pressley, Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley – nothing to do with the players, incidentally – and now they are facing a doomsday situation where administration may be their best option. I have been involved in administration and I know just how hellish it is. It is not an easy option, it is not something you could ever go into lightly. But if it means Hearts survive, then it is probably the only choice they have.

The ripples from this will impact on every club in the top flight because as a league we cannot lose another big club without feeling the effect of another domino falling.

The reputation of the league has taken a kicking. You can only imagine what outsiders think of it now. And to my mind it will probably take us the best part of a decade for Scottish football to get over this. It is a long road ahead with tough financial decisions having to be taken at more clubs than just Hearts.

Like many of us, I long for the days when we spend the close season taking about the new players that have come in, about the prospects of various clubs and about what 10 months of football is about to hold. But right now we are all caught in the mire of financial turmoil and clubs in crisis. There is no easy and quick fix for any of it. It is a long and testing road ahead for all of us.

Taken from the Herald