Robinson to be challenged

RAY HEPBURN

14 Feb 1995

HEARTS' chairman Chris Robinson will meet with a group of his corporate customers to discuss the departure of the club's commercial manager Charles Burnett.

The outcome could be a withdrawal of support for the Tynecastle side.

Burnett left Tynecastle on Friday after 15 years with the club, and some members of Hearts' sponsorship lounges, are unhappy.

Their anger at Burnett's departure will be emphasised by three leading Edinburgh businessmen who hope to meet Robinson tomorrow.

They will be representing around 100 members of the executive and business clubs, who form the hard core of the club's corporate turnover.

It is thought they have been less than charmed by the number of departures from Tynecastle.

Sandy Clark, who was manager, and his assistant Hugh McCann were sacked last summer within days of the catering tycoon's takeover from Wallace Mercer.

Months of wrangling followed before Clark, now assistant manager at Hamilton, and McCann eventually secured a settlement offer.

More recently, club accountant Gary Hay was dismissed and his case is due to be contested by an industrial tribunal in Edinburgh in the next two weeks.

Perhaps inevitably, Burnett's departure will be seen as another step away from the old Mercer regime, but Robinson said the commercial manager's leaving was a business decision.

Robinson added that he will be delighted to meet with the group of businessmen.

"I am always happy to meet Hearts supporters," he stressed.

However, there are also murmurings of further unrest on the playing front in addition to Maurice Johnston's expensive and controversial exile in the reserves.

Manager Tommy McLean still sees the immediate future dealing in modest transfer market moves, rather than working with the extensive cash budget he anticipated after replacing Clark, and McLean can't be too happy about the frugal nature of his position.

Taken from the Herald