Hearts boss John McGlynn agrees to defer wages

HEARTS manager John McGlynn and his coaching staff have agreed to defer wages in line with the majority of the club’s first-team squad. Monthly salaries were due to land in bank accounts today.

However, the players’ offer to wait for money to let the club pay an outstanding tax bill has been duplicated by the management team.

An agreement between Hearts and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will see the £450,000 tax bill settled in instalments through to December 3.

McGlynn was unable to confirm when he and his players would receive their wages. However, he stressed that he and coaches Edgaras Jankauskas and Gary Locke are more than willing to wait. “We are doing this because we are all in this together – directors, management team, players and fans,” he said.

“Everyone is playing their part here to help the club and we want to do our bit. I think it will be different timescales for different people because some folk will have certain situations that might crop up for them where they might need money to pay certain things.

“Maybe some of the players won’t be paid for six to eight weeks and they’ll have to stay focused on the job they are doing. They all have girlfriends and wives and some have children and like everyone else they have mortgages to pay and cars to run. So they deserve massive credit for doing that, as do the management and backroom staff as well may I add. It seemed like everyone was happy to help out. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t think it was the entire squad who did it, but everyone was happy to help out.

“The facts are everyone is doing everything they possibly can to raise money for this football club and we need to do our part. I think the players are doing that because they’ve agreed to get their wages late. The goodwill that has been shown towards Hearts, we must use it in all ways. Fans are supporting the team financially.

Hearts’ SPL match with St Mirren tomorrow is heading for a sellout after the final batch of tickets were released yesterday. Tynecastle is expected to be close to capacity with a raucous atmosphere.