Hearts: Jamie Hamill agrees to 50 per cent pay cut

JAMIE Hamill is the latest Hearts star to agree a massive drop in salary to help sustain the club into the new season.

With fears that the remaining experienced players would be part of a cull, the left-back has joined Jamie MacDonald and midfielder Ryan Stevenson in taking a 50 per cent wage cut. It means manager Gary Locke may make it into the upcoming campaign without losing any more of his first-team squad. The administrators have been buoyed by the response of the fans and the swell in season ticket sales and fundraising efforts means that while they will still have to let two youth players go, they are expected to bridge the remaining gap by offloading Marius Zaliukas and Andrew Driver from the wage bill.

The Scottish Cup-winning captain is contracted until the first week in August, while the winger, who is on loan to MLS side Houston Dynamos, is also due see out the majority of the Scottish close season but it seems certain that they will be offloaded from the wage bill early and they could be joined by John Sutton if the striker does not agree to reduced terms. Administrator Bryan Jackson, of BDO, would not comment on any departures, saying they were still in talks with those affected but after a positive response to his initial rallying call, he was far more optimistic about the club's short-term survival.

While the club would have to consider sizeable bids for any of their players, earlier this week the administrators gave fans who are digging deep assurances that all the money would be ploughed into keeping their club alive and indicated they would not be forced into accepting derisory offers for promising starlets if another 3,000-plus season tickets could be sold. With more than 500 sold in the first 24 hours despite issues with credit card and finance agreements, and that number up to 800 by last night, the signs are promising.

"I can see us selling more than 3,000", said Jackson. "We all know the fanbase is there and I'm not concerned about a willingness among supporters to help us. I know the supporters have given and given but before the problem was the money just went down a black hole and was used to pay past debt."

The coffers have been further boosted by the news that Arvydas Novikovas has signed for Bundesliga 2 side FC Erzebirge Aue, entitling them to a £100,000 development fee. While it is understood that the SPL would also be willing to advance the Gorgie club a small percentage of the prize money due them in August.

But while talks with the Foundation of Hearts were described as positive, Jackson warned that, regardless who made bids, there would be no speedy transfer of control and that it would be a months before fans would have any concrete resolution.

Since assuming control of the club at the beginning of the week, BDO representatives have met with a couple of the consortia who have expressed an interest in buying the club but it remains too early to pinpoint a frontrunner or gauge just how credible any bid would be. "We are in constant contact with UKIO Bankas because they appointed us," explained Jackson. "They are owed £15 million and they have the security on the stadium. They have been updated with a report on the last three days.

"UBIG are owed £10m and have the 50 per cent shareholding. We understand they are in the process where an administrator is about to be appointed. We doubt it will be the same administrator but we are hopeful it will be somebody we can work with. We haven't valued Tynecastle yet. But [regarding the sale of the club] I'd imagine we will set a closing date at some point. UKIO will have to be satisfied we get to a certain amount. They have been sympathetic to Hearts continuing as a football club and being sold that way. We can only take that at face value but they have a duty to their creditors so I can't imagine they would be happy at taking any nominal amount."

With the value of the Gorgie site now estimated around £5m, the hope is any bid would not need to exceed that, but the administrators say they are unwilling to place a price tag on the club. "We don't know what will happen with the 50 per cent shareholding held by UBIG. The 29 per cent with UKIO should be accessible but we don't know what they are expecting to be paid. I'm optimistic we can create enough time to do the CVA but there are five or six big external factors. I can only say, yes I think there is a good chance they will all come good."

Taken from the Scotsman