Graig Gordon: What did they do with my £9m?

The Jambos received the record breaking transfer fee when the keeper joined Sunderland in 2007.

But as the club teeter on the brink, Gordon can’t help but wonder where they’d be had Vladimir Romanov used the money on their debt rather than spending recklessly.

Gordon enjoyed good times winning the Scottish Cup in 2006, but it came at a price.

The likes of Christian Nade, Laryea Kingston, Takis Fyssas, Bruno Aguiar, Jose Goncalves and Edgaras Jankauskas — to name but a few — were high earners. And Gordon feels the lavish wages spent are now coming back to haunt the Tynecastle club.

He said: “A lot of money was spent during the good times — and some were more successful than others.

“The club was already in debt before Vladimir Romanov came in but the money they received for me went back out on various players.

“It was wasteful at times and they could have been a lot more prudent to stop it from happening.

“The club was generating a lot of money filling Tynecastle every second week — perhaps that was due to some good players but they also got very good wages.

“I think everyone enjoyed it while it lasted and the bottom line is that the debt isn’t too dissimilar to when Romanov first came in.

“It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where it went wrong but over that time, there was money wasted which should have been used to bring the debt down again.

“Clubs chased the dream and it is now starting to bite them — it is a shame really that things have been left to get this far.

“The banks have let that happen as well and they should take some of the blame also and not just the football clubs.”

While the shortfall of between 1,500 to 2,000 season tickets has hit the club hard, Gordon hopes the fans can bail the club out yet again.

He said: “It is not totally unexpected and it has been simmering there for a while now. It was going to come to a head at some point.

“Now we will see what is actually needed and what will happen for the future of the club whether it is administration or whether they stave that off for another wee while.

“I can understand why the Hearts fans are holding off but for the sake of a few thousand season tickets, it could stop the club going into administration.

“If they were to get a points deduction and with the same players as last season which finished far down, they are staring at relegation before they even start the campaign.

“It would be incredibly difficult to recoup that points deficit so if they can stop administration...

“The wage budget is now considerably down so if they can get through the summer period then the club will start making money and hopefully stay out of administration.

“That would give all the players a good chance of staying in the league.

“It might be a case of the fans digging deep one more time but the fans still don’t know what will happen if a new consortium comes in.

“Would they still go into administration or would the club then be on a better financial footing?

“There are just so many variables, and you can understand why it is very difficult for people.

“But hopefully, one way or another, they can just manage to stay out of administration and keep the club going.”

With the whole team up for sale, Gordon feels they do have good assets with the talented kids at the Tynecastle club.

Gordon, who is doing his B Licence on the SFA coaching course at Largs, said: “There are a lot of good youngsters at Hearts who can do a job.

“However, the one big negative is that there are a lot of free transfers available for clubs.

“There are plenty of the players who are looking for work who don’t have teams so clubs might not want to spend money on players.

“Potentially, they are a great investment for someone and I think it would be teams out with of Scotland who would have the money to buy them.

“The Old Firm could maybe come up with the money to buy them but it might be more likely them selling to clubs outside of Scotland.

“It is going to be a very difficult task for them to get big money for them but certainly they have the potential to do it.”

But while it appears all doom and gloom, Gordon believes it wouldn’t take long for Hearts to be a force again if they can stave off administration.

He said: “I don’t know how long it will take to get Hearts back to a good level.

“As soon as this gets sorted out then you can start planning. I am sure things will quickly become clear and they will know where they stand and how much they can spend on players next season.

“With the amount of supporters that Hearts have, they can create a revenue where they can compete, have one of the bigger budgets in the league and challenge for honours.

“It is about staying in that league and then giving them the chance to spring into a new era and to really get challenging again.

“If they can get through this period then the long-term future can be good for Hearts and the fans once again.”