Hearts is where home is as Wilson settles future
Tuesday 28 May 2013

There was an elephant in the room as Danny Wilson was talking over the finer points of a three-year contract with Hearts last week.
Danny Wilson made his loan at Hearts permanent.
Danny Wilson made his loan at Hearts permanent.

It was hard to ignore since it had a cap in its hand and a forlorn-looking dog at its heel.

The Tynecastle club have been made to seem impoverished as its financial stability is questioned – the Scottish Premier League having looked into claims that UBIG, Hearts parent company, have been placed in administration by authorities in Lithuania as financial experts spoke with conviction that the Edinburgh side are flirting with a similar fate. Wilson adopted a more tentative tone as he sought answers over the club's future, before committing to a deal which will last until 2016.

The length of the contract he has agreed was reward for an impressive loan spell from Liverpool in the latter half of the season but it raised questions from the former Rangers defender. And eyebrows among almost everybody else. Hearts had a registration embargo lifted earlier this month which had been imposed on them by the SPL following misgivings about the club's finances, while director Sergejus Fedotovas also informed an agm that £2.5m would have to be found to plug a funding gap in next season's budget.

There is a temptation to admonish the young Scotland internationalist for appearing so naive, but that image was to be redrawn as he considered his unsuccessful spell at Anfield. Wilson left Rangers for £2m in 2010 amid much anticipation, only to be granted a free transfer back to Scotland yesterday having made just nine first-team appearances. That is scarcely enough time to make an impression – even one as easily identifiable as a Scouse one – but he was prepared to leave in order to pursue happiness.

"There was interest from down south but I have just moved back up here and I was settled and enjoying my football," said Wilson. "I could have made more money elsewhere, but I never really spoke to anybody, because my mind was made up that I was happy enough to continue with how it was going. You don't want to trade that for your happiness. There's more money at other places but I'm happy here, my girlfriend is happy here, so I was happy to sign."

The defender will bring contentment to Hearts too, since centre- half partner Andy Webster has yet to commit to a new contract. "I used to learn from him playing in the [Rangers] reserves when I was 16, and I'm still learning from him five years later," added Wilson, who made 26 appearances for the Ibrox side. "So, if we can keep him, then great. I'd be delighted if it was at Hearts."

Taken from the Herald