Tynecastle clock ticking ahead of wages D-day

HEARTS may have attributed the non-payment of employees' wages to a technical hitch, but even if the money is now received as promised on Friday, the episode does not inspire confidence in the club's more grandiose plans for expansion.

The aim of building a new 10,000-seat main stand at Tynecastle was already meeting increasing scepticism some time before the events of the last week, and the inability to pay staff, for whatever reason it occurred, leaves onlookers wondering where the money would come from.

The plan to redevelop the stand has been accepted by many supporters as proof that Vladimir Romanov, Hearts' owner, remains committed to growing the club, and to a virtuous cycle which would see attendances and playing standards increase.

With bigger crowds producing bigger gate receipts, so the theory runs, Hearts would have more money to buy better players, who would bring more success to the team, which would then attract bigger crowds, and so on.

During an economic boom, such a theory might appear highly plausible, but in the present circumstances its attractions are less evident. The cost of the venture has been estimated at £50million, and Ukio Bankas Investment Group (UBIG), Hearts' parent company, are currently committed to finding that money.

But the timetable for the project has already been revised, and for the past six months some senior figures at the City of Edinburgh Council have been casting doubt on its viability.

"We have a number of concerns about the proposed redevelopment of Tynecastle, not least the way the club keeps putting back the timetable for the work," one councillor said.

However, Romanov himself has stated on the club's website that he believes the delays should be laid at the door of the council itself. "It is dragging on, the bureaucratic side of things," he said in late July.

"When you see sporting palaces going up overnight in China and we are talking about one stand, well it's not something I want to talk about at this moment."

The current starting date for construction is the summer of next year, but negotiations have some way to go before work can begin – even if UBIG does raise the massive sum required. Of course, if Hearts were to postpone the project that would not in itself mean Romanov had lost interest in the club. Indeed, to some observers a decision not to commit £50m at the present time would appear to be in the best longer-term interests of the club.

But delaying the building work indefinitely would surely put an end to the so-called Romanov revolution, and to the belief that the Lithuanian business could transform the face of Scottish football.

Without a new stand, Tynecastle would remain as it was when UBIG first bought into the club – and there would be little other sign of positive progress.

Things have taken a modest upturn since the arrival in the summer of Csaba Laszlo. The new manager's enthusiasm for and profound knowledge of football have enthused many members of the playing squad, and inculcated a unity which was conspicuous by its absence for much of last season.

Having won four of their first six matches in the SPL, Hearts are currently third in the league. They appear well placed to finish in the upper half of the 12-team table – something they failed to do last season for the first time since the split was introduced.

But improving on last season should hardly be a cause for prolonged celebration. With the biggest support in the country outwith the Old Firm, Hearts should be at least challenging for third place every year.

Indeed, before the Ukio takeover they finished best of the rest two years running under Craig Levein.

Only in season 2005-06, when they won the Scottish Cup and finished second to get into the qualifying stages of the Champions League, have the newly enriched Hearts fared significantly better on the field of play than their old, impoverished predecessors.

A couple of seasons of instability followed that halcyon spell, but many supporters retained their faith in Romanov, and argued that he would eventually get things right.

Now, critics might suggest that if the banker and his employees take a week to settle unpaid wages, previous promises of massive investment sound less and less convincing.

Q & A

Q: Does Hearts' statement yesterday that "payment to staff and players has now been processed as planned" mean that the wages have been paid?

A: No. Employees still have to wait until tomorrow for the outstanding salaries to appear in their bank accounts.

Q: What does "processed" mean then?

A: It means that the transaction is on-going and should be completed in time to meet the Friday deadline set by the club in Tuesday's statement. Effectively, nothing has changed since the timetable was announced on Tuesday.

Q: What is the 'technicality' that caused the failure to pay wages in the first place?

A: This is the key question, but so far Hearts have given no indication of what is really behind the problem.

Q: Didn't the club say at the weekend that the wages would be paid "early next week"?

A: Yes, that was stated but the intention could not be followed through.

Q: Has the club run out of money?

A: There is no evidence of a chronic lack of funds; the club insists that the failure to pay wages is a temporary cash flow problem rather than anything more sinister.

Q: Are the wages paid to employees by Vladimir Romanov's bank, Ukio Bankas?

A: No, they are paid by the Bank of Scotland every week after sufficient funds are transferred from Lithuania.

Q: What is the health of Ukio Bankas in the current economic climate of a global downturn?

A: Its rating has been downgraded from "stable" to "negative" recently, but its trading position remains positive.

Q: What is Romanov's view on the situation?

A: That is anyone's guess. Neither Romanov nor his son Roman, the club chairman, have commented on the matter, leaving director Sergejus Fedotovas to travel to Scotland this week to sort out the mess.

Q: After the club's promise to resolve the situation this week, what will happen if the wages are not paid by tomorrow?

A: There may be trouble ahead.