Danny Wilson admits he would not have rejoined Hearts if more job cuts had been planned

Gavin Berry

THE big defender told the club's administrators he was concerned that his signing could mean more people losing their jobs at the club.
Danny Wilson only returned after hearing jobs were safe Danny Wilson only returned after hearing jobs were safe
SNS Group/Alan Rennie

DANNY WILSON insists he wouldn’t have made a shock return to Hearts if it had resulted in more redundancies.

The defender admitted to a sense of guilt at his signing being pushed through after the administrators had made cuts.

But Wilson was told by bean counters BDO further job losses wouldn’t be made to free up cash to sign him.

And after receiving those assurances there was only one place he was heading – despite interest from six other clubs.

The 21-year-old reflected on a crazy five weeks that saw him paraded as a Jambos player only for the deal to then look dead when the club went into administration before he was registere.

However, despite a signing embargo being imposed, Wilson was given the green light to sign when the SPFL ruled his contract was just a continuation of a previous agreement. After talks with the club which saw him accept a wage cut the former Rangers youngster re-signed – and his dream return was sealed when Gary Locke handed him the captaincy.

The Jambos boss apologised to the Scotland stopper for the broken promises he received upon penning his original deal in May.

But Wilson – on loan from Liverpool last season – admitted it was the thought of further cuts as a direct result of him signing that he wouldn’t have been able to stomach.

He said: “I met with administrators before I signed and that was one of the main things I spoke about. It’s terrible people losing their jobs and I felt bad.

“I said to the administrators that if coming back would harm the club further I didn’t want to do it.

“I told them my feelings on the whole thing and they said that hopefully no more redundancies would be made.

“I hope when the club gets back on its feet there is a chance to get their jobs back.

“It was a strange feeling when I was told the move was off.

“I was disappointed but knew there was a bigger picture. Clubs had said they were interested in taking me so I was fortunate in that sense.

“When the move looked to have fallen through I spoke to a few other clubs but once I found out there was a chance of coming back to Hearts that was what I wanted to do.

“People from the outside looking in might think it’s nuts but I made the commitment to join Hearts and bought a house. I’m also happy with my team-mates and the manager.

“There were no hard feelings on my part that I had been given assurances by the club. To be fair to the people I had spoken to they had been given the assurances from others.

“It’s now evident what they were being told wasn’t true. The gaffer apologised but he had nothing to apologise for because he was just acting on the information he was given.

“I felt bad for him because he was trying to recruit a team and had the carpet pulled from under him. We’re in administration now and the club will hopefully be cleansed.”

Even when his move looked to be dead, Wilson still came to the aid of the club by investing in four season tickets which he has donated to a supporters’ group.

But it’s on the park where the defender is going to be most valuable to the club.

Manager Locke was appointed Jambos captain at the same age and Wilson said: “I don’t know if Gary sees a bit of him in me. I was surprised but there’s no way you turn down a captaincy.

“The gaffer was captain at 21 as well so I will be able to bounce off him.”

Taken from the Daily Record