EXCLUSIVE

BY DAVID MCCARTHY

HE’S the agent who thought he had seen everything in a working life that saw him broker Mo Johnston’s deal to Rangers after being paraded in a Celtic strip.

That’s after handling the affairs of George Best’s brilliant but riotous career.

And then Hearts came along on Wednesday and proved every day’s a schoolday, even if you are Bill McMurdo and in your fifth decade representing footballers.

Yes, these are unprecedented times with the future uncertain as this invisible virus wreaks havoc within and outwith the world of sport.

But McMurdo is scratching his head at the strategy employed by Tynecastle owner Ann Budge as she tries to stem her club’s financial bleeding in the midst of the corona crisis.

Budge has effectively ordered her entire workforce to take a 50 per cent pay cut or leave the club with a severance package.

Which means that seasoned international players such as Steven Naismith, Michael Smith, Liam Boyce, Oliver Bozanic and Conor Washington are being offered the chance to pick up a pay-off and, as free agents, find themselves new clubs in the next transfer window.

While Record Sport understands starlet Aaron Hickey isn’t affected by a 50 per cent pay cut demand because his salary is already very low, throw in their clutch of promising young Scots such as John Souttar, Lewis Moore and Craig Halkett, and there is potential for Daniel Stendel’s squad to be decimated.

That, of course, is if the players knock back the offer of a reduction in pay – and McMurdo is in no doubt that they should.

“If I were representing any of these players I would be advising him to stick to the original contract,” he told Record Sport.

“A contract is an agreement between two parties, the club and the player. I have always insisted my players honour contracts and