SPL - Can it,Will It Survive

[ian1964 10,720]

What is the reality of the SPL survival?. We hear from the clowns that are running the SPL that all is well,crowds are up and all is rosy in the garden.

And yet Hearts are facing what we the Rangers faced,only for Hearts the government has pledged to step in and help them!,the same way they stepped in to help us!.

 

Reading Jim Traynors' article in todays' Record below:

 

 

If Hearts go down watch other clubs collapse like dominoes

8 Nov 2012 00:01

 

THE possible collapse of Hearts should not be rejoiced by anyone as another club exiting the SPL can only spell disaster for Scotland's top flight.

 

 

 

HEARTS won’t be the last.

 

They are swaying on the edge of oblivion but there are at least two other clubs only one step, one unexpected bill, behind them.

 

Despite the bravado and bombast of some fans and commentators who stupidly, and crassly, responded to the troubles of Rangers with glee rather than dismay and alarm, Scottish football is not booming. The exact opposite is the truth.

 

It isn’t Armageddon, not yet anyway. But it is a nightmare, most certainly for Hearts fans.

 

Although their club’s financial meltdown can’t be blamed entirely on the loss of revenue caused by Rangers’ plight, there should be no doubt the Ibrox club’s absence from the SPL is having a debilitating effect. Not only on clubs but on broadcast and corporate partners as well.

 

Confidence in the top flight has flown and this rejoicing in and gloating when a club is dragged over the edge by the debt weight makes no sense. It is malicious and illogical.

 

Do not be fooled by the cheerleaders because the SPL cannot afford to lose another batch of fans.

 

If Hearts crumble others will surely fall but for the dimwitted and those who find perverse delight in the anguish of others, let’s try to simplify things by asking one question: Would Hibernian’s finances be diminished significantly by the loss of two Edinburgh derbies?

 

You bet. And remember, only last week Easter Road chairman Rod Petrie made it clear if fans want manager Pat Fenlon to be active in the transfer market they’ll have to start turning up in larger numbers.

 

And only yesterday Sky announced they’d be televising the Scottish Cup fourth-round tie between Hibs and Hearts which was hardly surprising.

 

After all, this is the biggest derby the Scottish game has to offer, and we can all be certain that without the Edinburgh fixture the broadcasters, who have already cut back on their financial support because of where Rangers are, would pull the plug on their SPL deals.

 

They’d still have Dundee derbies, provided the Dens Park club stay in the SPL, but those fixtures won’t tempt Sky, or anyone else to keep paying out.

 

Scottish football would have lost just about all appeal and we would be witnesses to the domino effect.

 

This is precisely why the crisis facing Hearts should be causing alarm in more than the Easter Road boardroom but because of the twisted nature of large numbers of fans there will be the suspicion Vladimir Romanov is bluffing.

 

They’ll reason the old Russian-born Lithuanian banker just wants more cash from his club’s supporters before he puts any more into his club but the evidence suggests he won’t.

 

It is more likely Romanov won’t throw in any more. Surely it’s been clear for more than a season he’s been struggling to divert enough cash towards Gorgie where players and employees no longer know if they’ll be paid on time.

 

Hearts are already serving a 60-day registration embargo because of these failures and the wages are due again in eight days. What chance now of them being paid, not on time but ever?

 

Romanov’s steel plant workers in Bosnia haven’t been paid since July and they’ll probably be on a pittance so yesterday’s revelation is unlikely to be part of some elaborate bluff.

 

Hearts went public because they had no choice. They laid it on the line and by spelling out the seriousness of their current plight they weren’t just making a statement, they were sending out a begging letter.

 

After 138 years they are broke and going under.

 

They are pleading for help with director Sergejus Fedotovas stressing the club’s future is in the fans’ hands.

 

His message was distressing and made it clear Tynecastle could be padlocked after Hearts’ match against St Mirren a week on Saturday after it emerged HMRC have issued a winding-up order over an unpaid £450,000 bill. This on the back of the club’s recent admission they are facing a tax tribunal over a £1.75million claim.

 

Hearts, who owe £22m to Romanov’s investment company Ukio Banko Investicine Grupe, are currently trying to raise £1.79m through a shares issue.

 

UBIG have scaled back dramatically on their support funding and are unlikely to plough in any more but would Romanov risk putting Hearts into administration to save them knowing he’d then lose control of the one asset, Tynecastle?

 

On the other hand it must be doubtful if he’d be willing, or allowed by UBIG investors, to continue running up the debt owed to them by keeping Hearts alive. Barely.

 

Hearts didn’t say they were begging but did point out clearly that they are seeking “emergency backing” and stressed “this is not so much a request as a necessity”.

 

It was an impassioned plea. “This isn’t a bluff, this isn’t scaremongering. This is reality.

 

“Discussions on whose name is above the door and talk about how the money has been spent is all natural but quite simply worthless at this moment in time.

 

“The only valid debate now is how can you help the club.

 

“Without your help now, we could be entering the final days of the club’s existence. There are limited options for the directors to take to avoid the catastrophic consequences that a funding shortfall would mean for the club.”

 

If Hearts are put into administration then under the SPL’s new rules they’d be hit with a 17-point penalty, their players would be sold off when the winter transfer window opens and relegation would be inevitable. But last night Tynecastle sources were saying it could be worse than that. The club could die, was their grim message.

 

In fact, Hearts’ statement made the severity of the situation clear, warning we could be witnessing “the start of a painful process that will affect every one of us and could lead to far more damaging actions that threaten the very existence of the club”.

 

Others are already under threat – Dunfermline asked Falkirk to bring a midweek game scheduled for next April forward to last weekend just to help put money in the coffers – but without Hearts and the dire consequences which would follow, Scottish football would be in meltdown.

 

If Hearts can’t fulfil their fixtures the SPL would be thrown into turmoil.

 

Armageddon might then be upon us and the only solution might be emergency league reconstruction.

 

Jim Traynor

 

Rumours are rife that at least another two clubs will follow shortly. Is it game over?

 

Motherwell v DUTD Attendance 3,941

Edited November 8, 2012 by ian1964

[Super_Ally 0]

Beginning of a clamour for what Celtic want:

 

Armageddon might then be upon us and the only solution might be emergency league reconstruction.

[Guest DietofWorms]

Despite my sympathy being kicked out of me this year...this is tragic for Scottish football. I despair at it all.

[Guest blueoutthedome]

I have no fellings for Hearts or any SPL club these are the same people that wanted us destroyed.

[calscot 0]

Two points about that article.

 

1. The biggest derby in Scotland this season is by a long way Rangers v Queens Park - last attendance was 49,463. Hibs vs Hearts was 12887 which makes it third behind the Dundee derby at 13538. The next Hearts home derby will probably put them back in second place but that will probably even be a long way behind Queens Park's home derby attendance.

 

2. Hearts would be deducted 18 points - I believe the third of 52pts is rounded up.

[54andcounting 0]

Hearts would be deducted 18 points - I believe the third of 52pts is rounded up.

 

If that happens Dundee Utd's Thomson will be rubbing his hands in anticipation of more derby games next season.