THE DREAM TURNS SOUR FOR BUDGE
QUEEN OF HEARTS IS NOW COPPING THE FLAK FOR HER CATASTROPHIC FOOTBALL DECISIONS
SIX years ago, no accolade would have been seen as excessive for Ann Budge in the eyes of Hearts supporters. Rangers’ victory over Hibs on March 22, 2015, meant that Robbie Neilson’s side had an unassailable 23-point lead at the top of the Scottish Championship.
For a fan base that had been battered from pillar to post due to the fiscal lunacy of Vladimir Romanov, this was the stuff of dreams.
A highly successful businesswoman as well as a Hearts season ticket holder, everything Budge touched turned to gold on the short journey from administration to that title triumph.
‘Ann Budge OBE … Over By Easter,’ tweeted then director of football Craig Levein.
Fast-forward to the present day, though, and the jovial back-slapping is no more. Even in the grip of a pandemic, it’s impossible to miss the rancour and fury flying around Gorgie.
Unable to demonstrate, irate fans have taken to putting stickers on lampposts; ‘Budge over, Neilson out,’ is one that sums up the mutinous mood.
The fact Hearts will shortly cross the line in the league is now an irrelevance. The snap shot of the season is losing to Highland League Brora Rangers in the Scottish Cup, a defeat to Alloa in the League Cup, four league losses and many more uninspiring draws and victories.
For many fans who were understandably outraged at the club’s enforced demotion last summer, there is now relief that they weren’t subjected to further humiliation by remaining in the top flight.
For the one time Queen of Hearts, this all must feel like scant reward for the financial and emotional investment she’s made over the past seven years.
Due to hand over her 75.1-per-cent stake to the Foundation of Hearts this summer, it’s a long way from those halcyon early days. As commendable as the redevelopment of the stadium has been under her watch, as well as numerous other initiatives, the catastrophe in the Highlands followed by a desperate home defeat to Queen of the South has covered Budge’s successes in a tsunami of condemnation.
‘Ann Budge has done a brilliant job off the park,’ stated BBC pundit and Hearts fan Allan Preston.
‘I sat on Saturday in a brand new stand, she’s got a women’s team going and the Big Hearts charity has fed thousands of people during this pandemic. ‘But it’s bigger than this for Hearts. On the football side of things, we are in a far worse place now than in 2014 when she took over. The first game in that Championship season, they beat Rangers at Ibrox with the likes of Jason Holt, Jamie Walker and Sam Nicholson. These were sellable assets. ‘I look at the club now and I don’t see any players you could sell and I don’t know what’s happened in the academy since then.’ Budge isn’t the first business person to discover that football simply doesn’t abide by normal rules and doubtless she won’t be the last. Transferring skills and knowledge from the IT industry that made her a multi-millionaire can allow a club to evolve in many ways. But it doesn’t necessarily win you three points on a Saturday or put out a side capable of defeating a part-time outfit from the Highland League. However laudable her many achievements, Budge has been blinded to the erosion of the core product on her watch. This is illustrated by the signing of 97 players over her time — averaging 14 a season — an unwieldy and fundamentally flawed strategy if ever there was one.
‘Her only failing has been the people she’s trusted to bring in football players or managers,’ Preston added.
‘They signed the likes of Loic Damour on a four-year deal — who’s still there for another two years.
‘It’s not his fault — he came in good faith. I blame the people who gave him the contract in the first place. Did they do their homework properly?
‘We waited three months on David Vanecek coming in and he lasted six months.
‘Juwon Oshaniwa, the Nigerian left-back, took three months to arrive and is now out the door.
‘Malaury Martin had two years left on his contract and never played for Hearts again after being put out on loan.
‘If I’m a young Hearts fan looking to put a name on the back of my strip, who do I choose? The likelihood is the player will be away in the next window.
‘There is no identity for the club on the pitch.’
If there is a turning point in the whole debacle, it came at the end of 2016 when Neilson left for MK Dons with the side sitting second in the Premiership.
Budge’s trust in Levein to identify a new head coach was the moment it all started to go downhill.
‘In comes Ian Cathro,’ Preston recalled. ‘Hearts lose to Peterhead in the League Cup and are the first Premiership side not to qualify from a section.
‘Ian loses his job and Craig comes in (combining two roles). They start reasonably well but get to the League Cup semi-final against Celtic at Murrayfield and the wheels fall off.
‘It took seven weeks to get Daniel Stendel when Hearts were tumbling down the table.
‘That doesn’t really work so he moves on. Robbie then comes back and has the worst result in the club’s history against Brora followed by the first defeat against Queen of the South since 1963.
‘They’ve been knocked out of the League Cup by Alloa and are now on a run of two wins in eight. The only constant throughout this whole time is dreadful recruitment. I feel sorry for Robbie as he inherited a mess.’
Latterly perceived to be more of
a problem than a solution, Levein is no longer at the club.
Joe Savage was hired as sporting director in December and needs time before the quality of his work can be judged. A replacement for Christophe Berra, who will leave in the summer, now tops his inbox.
Neilson appears to have survived the worst result in the club’s history but convincing the fans of his suitability for the post after Brora is nigh impossible.
‘Performances have been poor for quite a while now,’ said Steve Kilgour, secretary of the Federation of Hearts Supporters Clubs.
‘It’s been a real concern amongst all the fans, the standard of our play.
‘He has to go for the good of the club — and to save his reputation as well.
‘That team will come right back down, guaranteed, if this continues.’
Perhaps part of the problem has been the lack of critique. The Foundation is already represented on the board by Stuart Wallace. Budge, apparently, will stay on as chairperson after the summer handover. It’s not hard to see why there may have been a reluctance to rock the boat.
‘I believe the Foundation should be leading for change and leading to get the club on a better footing,’ added Kilgour.
‘If they take over in the summer they have to act stronger. Their statement last week was very weak and I know fans are not happy with that at all.
‘It’s resulted in lots of people telling me they are stopping their pledges.
‘Ann staying on? A few years ago I would have said: “Yes”. But, right now, I don’t think so.’
It’s a good job Budge never parted with her £2.5m seven years ago to win a popularity contest.
For all her good works and honourable intentions will be an integral part of her legacy, that seems set to be tainted by the consequences of various flawed judgments on football matters.
Whether or not she has the desire to work on with the Foundation to redefine that remains to be seen.
‘There needs to be a lot of soul searching from top to bottom,’ Preston added.
‘Almost £12m of fans’ money has been put into the club as well as James Anderson’s and it looks like it’s been totally wasted.’