I was on top of the world a few weeks ago.. then this happened
HEARTS youth coach Declan Fergus was on top of the world after scaling Mount Kilimanjaro during a recent expedition to Africa.
But he was brought crashing down to earth this week after being placed on unpaid leave by the club.
He was one of several coaches told they’d be out of a job for the foreseeable future amid a swathe of cost-cutting measures at Tynecastle, with academy chief Roger Arnott breaking the news to shell-shocked staff on Wednesday.
All full-time employees, including manager Daniel Stendel and his playing squad, have also been told to take 50 per cent pay cuts or request mutual termination of their deals.
Fergus is praying the short-term result is long-term gain for Hearts and he is determined to return to the club.
He said: “Wednesday was a disappointing, difficult day for us. The academy staff were all told we would be placed on unpaid leave and you could see how difficult that was for Roger (Arnott) to tell us all. He was upset by it.
“Tough calls are being made across the board. I understand Hearts’ decision and they have made a hard call from a business point of view. I’ll go back to working for Hearts when things are cleared up, hopefully sooner rather than later.
“Hopefully, making these decisions now means the club can still be in a decent position for us all to get back to work.”
While Fergus has the same pressing financial concerns as any other individual, his first thought is for the kids who will be without football.
Even if he won’t receive a penny from the Jambos for it, he wants to help ensure youngsters can still hone their skills.
He said: “It’s looking like it could be well into the summer before we can get back to training.
“That is disappointing enough for me – I get excited about football, it’s my life – but that’s doubly the case for the youngsters.
“They’ll be climbing the walls with no school and no structured football!
“In terms of what we can do for players and parents, we are looking at developing some mini-tasks and homework they could do.
“If they can do things in the living room or back garden, we’ll look at that. Even some video analysis could be an option.
“It’s important to try to keep kids active and engaged.”