I’VE CRITICISED HEARTS BUT WE CAN’T CUT THEM ADRIFT

IHAVE never been slow to criticise Hearts when I feel it is merited. Since the Tynecastle club’s return to the Premiership they have been wasteful with their cash.

They have spent above and beyond, forking out big wages to sign international players like Kyle Lafferty and Liam Boyce.

They have invested far more in their squad than clubs like Hamilton and St Mirren but still found themselves bottom of the Premiership table when Scottish football went into lockdown with eight games left.

I’ve also been critical of Ann Budge for keeping Craig Levein in charge for too long and for being ‘clueless’ in her search for a replacement.

Then, when Budge (pictured below) finally admitted she should have let Levein go months earlier, she let him remain in the background still getting paid until the end of this month for absolutely nothing.

Hearts also pushed the boat out to get their new main stand finished and it looks magnificent from the outside. But when I went there as a Sky Sports pundit, there were wires sticking out everywhere.

There were no tiles in the toilets. The lifts weren’t working, there were gaps in the stairs and no stair rails. It was a botched job. It was not finished. I think the writing was on the wall then, maybe around a year ago, that the money looked to be drying up at Hearts.

But then, before you know it, they are offering a four-year deal to Steven Naismith, who is a very good player but was 32 and also injury-prone.

Yet despite being one of the biggest critics of the way Hearts have been run, I couldn’t have foreseen the fate that would befall them as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

That’s why I would definitely approve Budge’s plan for league reconstruction to keep them in the top flight.

Yes, her club were bottom of the Premiership and they were there for a reason. But the season had not finished and they still had the chance to save themselves.

Now, having been relegated, they find themselves in a Championship the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

A ‘Zoom’ meeting of clubs from the second tier today will hear arguments for closed-door games with live streaming... claims that football may not start up again in the Championship until October — or even next January.

And I don’t like thinking that Hearts are not getting at least the chance to dig themselves out of a hole.

So I would 100 per cent be backing the Premiership to be expanded so Hearts are not being unduly punished here.

The same goes for Partick Thistle, who were relegated from the Championship when they were just two points behind Queen of the South with a game in hand.

Hopefully under reconstruction, Thistle would still be in the Championship, alongside Falkirk, who finished a point behind Raith Rovers in League One but then saw the play-offs cancelled.

Of course, top-flight clubs won’t like sharing their prize money with more members but it would be worth it to ensure the Premiership is at its most exciting in its hour of need.

Everyone moaned about the lack of competition when Rangers went down to the bottom tier in 2012.

But Hearts are a team who make the top flight more competitive. Even when bottom of the table last season, they still beat Rangers twice at Tynecastle. They are one of the big fishes. They are a big draw. It would be like the English Premier League losing a top-ten club.

Without Hearts, there is no Edinburgh derby and the loss of up to four of those games would be massive in terms of revenue.

There would be no trips to Tynecastle for Celtic and Rangers. These are among the biggest, most attractive matches of the season for sponsors and broadcasters.

Scottish football needs to have its biggest clubs in the top flight to make it the most marketable product possible and, regardless of how you feel about how they have been run, Hearts are a massive club. As much as they have been a shambles, Scottish football needs them in the top flight alongside Dundee United, who are now finally back in the Premiership.

It just makes zero sense having one of the country’s biggest clubs in the Championship and, potentially, being put in cold storage until 2021.