'Absolute madness' - Ex-Hearts duo Ryan Stevenson and Michael Stewart react to club's possible relegation

The former team-mates can’t fathom the SPFL’s position
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Ex-Hearts ace Ryan Stevenson believes it would be “absolute madness” to relegate Hearts with eight games of the season remaining.

The forward is in a similar position with his current club Stranraer in League One, although the Blues are eight points adrift at the foot of the table compared to his former club’s four points.

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The future remains unclear with Dundee still to cast their deciding vote on the SPFL’s resolution, but according to various reports the Championship club are set to change their position from rejecting the proposal to being in favour.

Ryan Stevenson believes it to be "absolute madness" to relegate Hearts. Picture: SNSRyan Stevenson believes it to be "absolute madness" to relegate Hearts. Picture: SNS
Ryan Stevenson believes it to be "absolute madness" to relegate Hearts. Picture: SNS

An emergency meeting is expected today.

If the resolution is passed it would see Stevenson’s Stranraer and Championship side Partick Thistle relegated, with Hearts likely to follow in the coming weeks.

“Hearts would be going into the split and Partick Thistle are sitting two points behind with a game in hand,” he told the Daily Record.

“All three – particularly Hearts and Thistle – would have a good chance of saving themselves. But the consequences for these three under the proposal would be huge. It’s absolute madness.

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“How people can sit in Hampden and come up with that plan as a good idea is absolute and utter beyond me.

“I said right from the start of this that the season just has to be cancelled. As bad as that is, we’ve never been in this situation so you just have to null and void everything if the season can’t restart.”

Former Tynecastle midfielder Michael Stewart has been a strong advocate against relegating teams.

In his column for a newspaper he called the situation “a shambles of epic proportions” calling any relegation “unfair punishment”.

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He wrote: “The Partick Thistle situation is ludicrous. Two points behind with a game in hand? There would be recriminations for generations. You don’t forget that.

“Ann Budge says Hearts would lose £2-3million and players would be forced to take cuts. To impose relegation on them is a staggering move. It would be so unjust for those two clubs and Stranraer.

“For me, the SPFL board should have agreed on what they wanted to achieve and then worked back the way.

“The No 1 priority should have been getting money to clubs urgently. What stopped them doing that?”