Ann Budge has come out fighting after she was criticised by some for asking players and full-time employees to halve their wages.
The Tynecastle outfit currently have no means of income with the football season on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the days have gone by, reports have told of several clubs taking measures to try and sustain over the next few months.
Budge has come out fighting (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Hearts were one of the first clubs to request players to take cuts, but Budge says she makes no apologies for the decision and the snappiness with which it was made.
She said in a lengthy statement: “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.
“Given that we all know we have to plan for that eventuality [six months of 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… in a timely enough manner.
Hearts were one of the first clubs to implement cost-cutting measures (Photo by Ewan Bootman/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Neither of these options is likely to happen and, therefore, I make no apology for putting immediate plans in place to mitigate the problems heading our way.”
Budge’s comments come after Michael Stewart was particularly scathing of the club’s handling of the situation – the ex-Jambo said he’d be livid if he was a player seeing the email John Murray sent out to agents.
He said that all the good of Budge rescuing the club seven years ago has been ‘erased in a stroke’, and it seems with the tone of the statement, the owner certainly caught wind of Mr. Stewart’s remarks.