Hearts are one of the top three “also rans” in terms of support and club finances.
Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts. Three “challengers” to Celtic and Rangers who, in aggregate, haven’t won the top league title for 166 years.
Relegated prematurely from the Premiership last season, Hearts are strolling to promotion points-wise BUT the standard of their performances has overall been, at best, mediocre.
Hearts simply haven’t got enough good football players who perform consistently well.
Particularly disappointing has been the output of the Hearts Academy. Where are the young stars of the future?
Nowhere to be seen.
I believe the Hearts manager knows what a good player looks like, has decent tactical awareness and good motivation skills. The problem is that he has not been able to bring in the right players and /or keep them fit.
Basically, when Hearts have a fully fit squad and the players are performing to the best standard they can reach, there are only half a dozen who look like Premiership players.
And bear in mind that the standard of the Premiership is poor – and declining.
As I have been writing for a long time now, the lack of competitiveness in the Premiership – a duopoly since 1985 – is shocking.
Third in the Premiership is effectively nowhere.
The saddest thing is the the Chairs/owners of the clubs have given up even trying to compete with the Old Firm. They focus on survival, impure and soul-destroying.
What is the point of survival? Living to fight another day sounds good, but it is the Big Lie. The fight went out of the “also rans” a long time ago.
A few years ago, Hearts nearly went out of business. It took a monumental effort to save the club from extinction.
Today, 8 years on, the Foundation of Hearts effectively owns the club, with approaching 8000 supporters gifting the FoH around £1.2M a year.
Mrs Budge, who effectively partnered with the FoH to rescue Hearts from administration, has in almost every respect been excellent for the club, in particular seeing through a much-needed, though relatively expensive, stadium redevelopment.
Hearts now have a 20,000 capacity venue, finished to decent standards.
That, however, is the end of the good news.
When Hearts get promoted back to the Premiership, based on current performances, the club will be struggle to be able to compete for positions 3 to 6 in the league.
Even if they DO manage to be one of the top four “also rans”, Hearts will still see a yawning chasm between themselves and the Old Firm. Finishing 30 or more points behind the Glasgow Twins might well be considered a reasonable achievement by many, so long as “3rd” is the end position.
How does all that look to me?
A RECIPE FOR DESPAIR.
I am delighted to let you know that “survival”; “best of the rest”; “3rd” are non-ambitions that I totally reject.
Being around in 2024 to “celebrate” 150 years of Hearts history doesn’t do it for me.
I have been alive, well and fuming for the last 60 years of that history. Those 60 years have been a period of monumental disaster for the club.
So a message for the FoH.
Stop thinking of survival, of minding the pennies for years so Hearts can recover from the pandemic.
Hearts – and Scottish football – have no more years to waste.
Two things need to be done
1) Hearts must mobilise the other “also rans” to push remorselessly for the fundamental changes to Scottish football I have written about in detail recently. These include a handicap system in the Premiership and reverting to at least some sharing of home gate receipts with away clubs.
2) The FoH needs to bring in top notch fundraisers. £1.2 Million a year is a great effort from 8000 supporters BUT it doesn’t start to address the financial needs of the club IF Hearts are to compete with the Old Firm. Filling the 20,000 stadium is also NOT nearly enough, even if achievable. No. Hearts need to raise a minimum of £10 million from sponsorship a year in addition to tickets sales and pre-covid levels of commercial revenue. Put simply, if pre-covid expectations were for a turnover of £15 million, Hearts need to raise that figure to between £25 and £30 million, with the additional monies used solely to improve the playing side of the club.
For me there is no choice. I would rather Hearts were just a plaque on a wall in 2030 rather than accepting a continuation of the last 60 years of failure in the league.
Time to stop thinking of survival. Resuscitate the Dream. Make winning a reconstructed Premiership our only priority, risking all in the quest for the ultimate success.
We need Big Hearts on the pitch, not just pitching in with work in the community.
Time for Genuine Success.
Time for Change.
Scottish Football Matters 