Budge in talks with clubs over revamp

ANN BUDGE will not submit her reconstruction proposal until Monday at the earliest as she continues to hold talks with clubs. The Hearts owner had hoped to circulate her plan by close of business yesterday but is continuing to refine it through consultations with counterparts in all four divisions. Expanding the Premiership would be the last chance to save the Tynecastle club from relegation, although attaining the necessary 11-1 top-flight majority could still be a tall order. Budge has made it clear that Hearts will consider legal action against the SPFL over being ‘expelled’ from the Premiership should their

member’s resolution ultimately fail. SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster this week warned that such a legal move would negatively impact on the other 41 clubs. ‘It’s really important that any club makes its own decisions because they are an independent business,’ said Doncaster. ‘Although they are one of 42 member clubs within the league, each club — and the board of each club — has to do what’s right for their club. ‘But any action that’s taken by any member against the league ultimately is taken against members as a whole. ‘We don’t hold reserves year to year, so any action that any one individual club takes, effectively the burden of that would fall on all the other members.’ Meanwhile, Daniel Stendel last night admitted he has almost resigned himself to Hearts playing Championship football next season, saying: ‘My experience tells me that the chance of that (reconstruction) happening is not very big. ‘Voting is complicated in Scotland and if there are only one or two votes against, it won’t go through. ‘And as is usually the case in life, in the end, everyone looks after themselves. ‘But there is still some hope. My wish is for a solution to be found soon so that we can get back to playing football.’ And Stendel, whose future remains unclear, admitted in an interview in a Frankfurt newspaper that he will forever be frustrated at how Hearts’ season panned out. He said: ‘We have 20,000 fans at Tynecastle and the atmosphere is better than 50,000 in Hannover. ‘We beat Rangers in the league and cup and won the derby at Hibs. You could see that a bold game plan with high pressing was implemented. ‘Then we lost 1-0 at St Mirren. We had serious injuries and suspensions, but that always sounds like an excuse.’