Budge pleads with players to accept cuts
HEARTS owner Ann Budge last night urged first-team stars to make the ‘morally right’ decision of accepting hefty pay cuts after insisting the cash-strapped club can’t afford to defer wages during the coronavirus shutdown. As city rivals Hibernian announced a cost-saving package that involves big earners having up to 50 per cent of their monthly income deferred until a later date, Budge’s stand-off with the Tynecastle first-team squad shows no signs of reaching an amicable conclusion. Having already told players the club are considering simply suspending all payments under the now-infamous clause 12 in
standard SPFL contracts, the Edinburgh businesswoman last night changed tack to insist that accepting cuts was ‘the right thing to do’ in the face of a global pandemic. Arguing that her hands were tied by a commitment to hand over ownership to the Foundation of Hearts fan group, Budge pointed to the enormity of the basic wage bill as to why deferrals — where players take temporary cuts and get their ‘losses’ back at a later date — won’t be enough to keep them afloat. In a statement last night, she said: ‘Much has been reported about the club asking all staff, including players, to accept temporary wage cuts while other clubs have negotiated on the basis of wage deferrals. ‘I have explained to first-team players individually, and to the SPFA (players’ union PFA Scotland), why we believe this is the most appropriate course of action for Hearts. ‘In the same way that wage cuts impacts every individual differently, so too, does this crisis impact differently on different clubs. ‘We do not all have the same business model. While some clubs choose to pay lower basic wages topped up by bonuses, other clubs pay higher basic wages and make less use of bonuses. Hearts fits into this latter category which, in this current situation, means we have a bigger challenge. ‘Similarly, we do not all have the same ownership structure. Some clubs have private owners while others have groups of investors. Access to investment capital during periods of crisis can therefore be different for different clubs. ‘Hearts is, of course, different again, in that we are on the cusp of moving to fan ownership. I have a legal obligation to transfer majority ownership to the fans and not to seek external investment. ‘I also have a moral obligation not to burden the club with football debt, that can never be written off, where I would simply be passing this problem to the new owners… the fans. ‘We feel asking for wage cuts is the best way to safeguard the club. We also feel it is morally the right thing to do when everyone on the planet is faced with making sacrifices.’ PFA Scotland have been advising Hearts players who have grown increasingly angry over the stance taken by Budge, who was due to hand over control to fans this month, having been repaid her initial £2.5million investment by the Foundation of Hearts. Despite head coach Daniel Stendel waiving all his wages and captain Steven Naismith (below) taking a 50-per-cent pay cut, players irked by Budge’s take-it-or-leave-it approach — and armed with legal advice — are intent on negotiating deferrals. Budge said in her statement that she intended to ‘furlough all players’ under the government’s job retention scheme, while insisting that ‘no player has been asked to take more than a 30-per-cent reduction in wage’. She added: ‘We thank every player for their support and hopefully we will conclude talks soon.’ Under the furlough scheme, clubs can claim back up to 80 per cent of an employee’s salary, capped at £2,500 a month. How much they choose to ‘top up’ this amount, and whether or not they use deferrals or reductions in pay, is up to them. Hibernian yesterday revealed that coach Jack Ross and his players had agreed to wage deferrals of up to 50 per cent as they were furloughed. On the day when Ross County also revealed they had placed their first team on the scheme, while promising to keep everyone on full salary, Hibs revealed details of their deal with earnings deferred by ‘between 20 and 50 per cent’. Unlike Hearts proposals, the Hibs deal ensures all players will get every penny due to them over the course of their contracts. But the short-term fix helps with the club’s cash flow problem during the shutdown — and hopefully avoids the need for redundancies at Easter Road. ‘We have spoken with staff and players,’ said chief executive Leeann Dempster. ‘They have all been superbly supportive and we have agreed to furlough.’