Hearts certain to reduce squad as debt hits £28.4m

Spending on the Hearts playing squad is unlikely to rise any further as the club attempts to balance the books on the back of a £28.4m debt.

The club admitted that high spending on salaries, currently around £10m, could not be allowed to continue.

It is believed goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who earns around £14,000 a week, is the best-paid player at the club but it looks likely he will leave during the summer transfer window. A salary of up to £10,000 a week is the norm for other top players, with Takis Fyssas and Edgaras Jankauskis both earning that figure.

"We will be going for quality, not quantity in future," said a source close to club owner Vladimir Romanov last night, who said the playing squad would reduce year on year. The club have 63 players on professional contracts although only 35 of them are members of the first-team squad, with the rest being youth players.

The wage bill more than doubled from £4.5m to £10m in the year to July 31 2006, on the back of squad strengthening, and total overall debt climbed by nearly £5m to its current level.

However, the Hearts board insist their operation is running smoothly and Romanov's plans remain firmly on track.

In a statement issued on the back of the financial results, Hearts said: "The loss is in line with the board's expectation and is part of an approved long-term business plan for the club where investment and increase of costs are required to improve the performance.

"The company has financial support from the main shareholder UBIG, (an organisation run by Romanov) helping the company to meet financial demands and manage debt."

Hearts recently revealed a plan to expand Tynecastle's capacity by 6000 seats to around 23,000, with the eventual aim of further stadium growth.Revenue hit an all-time high of £10.27m, a rise of 22%, while attendances swelled by 34%, with commercial income up by 18%.

The club confirmed that spending on players had peaked, and improving the financial results was now the main target. "The Hearts board believes that current levels of debt are manageable and will be reduced as the club moves towards profitability," said the statement.

"Higher revenues will be generated through increased participation in European competition, larger attendance in a redeveloped Tynecastle stadium, and greater sponsorship and retail income. Expenditure on the playing squad is unlikely to rise any further."

Derek Watson, secretary of Hearts Supporters' Trust, said fans were not too concerned about the club now owing £28.4m because they felt the proposed redevelopment of Tynecastle would boost income figures.

Valdas Ivanauskas, the head coach, has the biggest squad in the SPL at his disposal but Watson does not believe it is necessary, and going for quality rather than quantity was indeed the way forward.

"They will have to look at salaries," said Watson. "I am sure they will accept that the current pool is too big and, hopefully, that can get sorted.

"In terms of the overall debt, however, I don't think we have to be concerned, not at this stage. It is in line with what we expected because of the size of pool and there was no European football the season that these financial results represent.

"I think there will be an improvement next year. The stadium redevelopment is crucial to the overall plan and that is the way forward."

One player who will play no further part for Hearts this season is Juho Makela. The Finnish internationalist, who has few first-team appearances, last night sealed a loan move to Swiss side FC Thun.

Taken from the Herald