John Sutton joins Motherwell and says: 'I didn't betray Hearts'

2 Jul 2013 08:49

Hugh Keevins

THE English striker has returned to Fir Park and admits he may have made a mistake by leaving for Tynecastle in the first place.

JOHN SUTTON insists he didn’t turn his back on Hearts and left ?Tynecastle with his head held high and his integrity intact.

Now he wishes the Edinburgh club well as they fight to avoid relegation in the new season, an achievement Sutton reckons would eclipse beating Hibs 5-1 in the Scottish Cup Final.

Most of the time spent on Sutton’s arrival at Motherwell yesterday was taken up by talking about his departure from the club who went into administration and directed him towards Lanarkshire.

And it’s obvious the striker resents being portrayed as the one who refused to help the Jambos in their hour of need by taking a pay cut.

Sutton said: “Originally, I was looking forward to staying on at Hearts and seeing out the last year of my contract.

“Then the club went into administration and I was told it would be better if I found myself a new team.

“That wasn’t nice for me to hear and I asked my agent to double check with Hearts if my time there was at an end.

“It became clear my time was up and I gambled on going elsewhere rather than stay on a reduced wage.

“My mindset had gone from feeling positive at Hearts to thinking I’d be better off somewhere else.

“As it turns out, me not being there anymore has allowed Danny Wilson to stay at Tynecastle.

“I know he was a player they were really keen to keep.”

Sutton had withstood the indignity of being behind teenagers like Callum Paterson in the queue for a game at Tynecastle.

But he refused to say that decision might have had more to do with Vladimir Romanov and the last, chaotic days of his reign at the club.

Sutton said: “That’s not for me to say. I trained and played the best I could for the club.

“I also donated two per cent of my money from bonuses to buy shares in Hearts and help fund the club’s youth development scheme.

“And I agreed to numerous wage deferrals in order to back the club rather than take a more aggressive stance.

“I’m not saying all of this to make me look good. All of the players did the same and every one of us would be pleased to see Hearts emerge from administration, stay up in the SPFL and move on to bigger and better things.

“It’s going to be a tough season for the club with a 15-point penalty deduction but the fans will turn up to back them and there will be a bit of a siege mentality.

“Staying up would be the equivalent of the Cup Final win over Hibs in the season before last.

“I hope they do well, apart from the games when Hearts are up against Motherwell.”

Sutton has now taken over the No.9 jersey worn by Michael Higdon at Fir Park last season when he was on his way to becoming PFA Scotland’s Player of the Year.

He has since become a free agent and Well also lost Nicky Law to Rangers and Henrik Ojamaa to Legia Warsaw so Sutton has his work cut out on his return to his former club.

He said: “Michael was brilliant for Motherwell for two years. And that goes for Nicky, Henrik and Darren Randolph as well.

“A lot of good players have left but it’s up to the boys who are still here to give it their best shot.

“It’s a tough ask to finish second in the table once again but hopefully we can at least be challenging for the top six.”

Sutton doubted Motherwell’s future when he left for Hearts and that’s a mistake he can acknowledge in hindsight.

He said: “I wasn’t keen to leave but I doubted the manager too much when he said he had players who were coming in who could do a job for the club.

“He was right and Motherwell have finished third, and then second, since I’ve been away.

“Motherwell have always been a club who’ve punched above their weight.

“I’m hungry for success at Fir Park and as soon as I heard the club was in for me I knew that was exactly where I wanted to be.”

Taken from the Daily Record