Budge defends club’s policy

HEARTS: Owner’s rage at ‘ill-informed’ pundits over wage cut amid pandemic

Ann Budge has defended herself against “ill-informed” pundits criticising her Hearts wage cuts as she insisted the Tynecastle cash-flow crisis is no worse than any other club’s.

She also dismissed claims the club are keeping a “pot of money” in reserve to buy players once the coronavirus pandemic passes.

The Jambos owner told both players and staff last week to prepare for their salaries to be slashed by 50% as she sought to avert a financial disaster brought on by the outbreak.

Boss Daniel Stendel has waived his wages during the shutdown, while skipper Steven Naismith is the first member of the playing staff to agree to the cuts.

Now Budge has responded to the likes of Kris Boyd, Michael Stewart and Tam Mcmanus after she was faced with claims that she had “spent well beyond” Hearts’ means – insisting it was better to act to curb spending now than to wait until it is too late.

“I feel for the sake of our supporters I need to address the enormous amount of ill-informed and self-opinionated commentary coming from some sections of the media at the moment,” she wrote in a statement on the club website.

“Firstly, let me reassure all Hearts supporters that our financial position is no worse (nor better) than almost every other senior football club in Scotland, despite the recent continuous supply of misinformation and malicious speculation.

“In line with most other clubs, we aim to hold sufficient cash reserves to cover two to three months of normal trading operations.

“The reason we are implementing cost control measures is because we could be facing up to six months of totally abnormal operations.

“I see absolutely no reason for sitting back and waiting either on a miracle or for the government to bail out every company in the country.

“Neither of these options is likely to happen and I make no apology for putting immediate plans in place to mitigate the problems heading way.

“Nor do I make any apology for being open and transparent with staff, players and supporters about the potential scale of the issue.

“I did so quickly, not to create panic, but to give everyone time to plan and consider their own circumstances.

“Cost cutting is going to come and I see no point in sugarcoating this news.”

Budge has closed down Tynecastle and the club’s Riccarton training base in line with government advice on controlling the virus’ spread.

SNS. Picture: Some pundits have claimed Hearts owner Ann Budge has “spent well beyond” the club’s means.