Another club in talks with potential new owners are Kilmarnock. Club officials are somewhat perturbed to find the news has leaked out at such an early stage, but apparently a mystery investor identified only as 'a Kilmarnock fan' is keen to take on the £10m debt the club owes and take it to the next level, i.e. a £15m debt. Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston is keen to listen to any offers but has decided to be careful about any individuals making unsolicited (and frankly unexpected) approaches, especially given the "recent publicity surrounding gambling syndicates and money laundering in football". Personally, we think quite a few clubs outside of the Old Firm would be open to a bit of money laundering or the odd Thai gambling syndicate (allegedly, your Honour!) if it helps them raise cash to raid the First Division of the best talent. Oh I dunno, I'd just want to make sure my new investor is not called Mileson.
Whilst we're on the subject of money, Hearts chairman and all-round, well, owner, Vladimir Romanov has managed to reduce the clubs debt from a mere £36m to £30m. How was this done? By shipping your prize assets of course, how else! Getting rid of most of the first team, notably Craig Gordon and Roman Bednar as well as high rollers such as Stephen Pressley, Paul Hartely, Neil McCann and Ibrahim Tail have eased the debt somewhat, but the on field performance leaves something to be desired. Hearts must look to improve on their 8th place finish. Oh, and a manager would be nice. Romanov could reduce the debt a bit more once Christophe Berra leaves for Wolves in a £2m deal. Worry not though Hearts fans, for former Gretna forward Mickael Buscher is currently training in Tunisia hoping to secure a permanent contract with your club. Nice!
Across the city, Guillaume Beuzelin leaves Hibs for Coventry in a free transfer, leaving new boss and Scrabble favourite Mixu Paatelainen looking for more new blood at Easter Road. He's setting expectations though when he says "it's not all about the numbers of players you bring in." That augers well for the new season then!
In other transfer news, Scott Robertson moves his box of possessions 200 yards up the road, when he leaves Dundee for Dundee United. Robertson joins a long list of players to have played for both teams, including Lee Mair, Stewart McKimmie, Iain Ferguson, Billy Dodds and Tommy Coyne.
Another player to have played for both Dundee and Dundee United is Jim McInally, now boss at East Stirlingshire. He's after signing Craig Tully from Arbroath, and guess for which team Tully used to play? Why, Dundee of course. Spooky or what?
Clyde have signed Marc McCusker, Alan Trouten and Ricky Waddell from Hearts, Queens Park and Airdrie respectively as they look to strengthen the squad for the upcoming season.
Aberdeen side Cove Rangers are hoping their application for entry to the Third Division will be looked upon favourably despite not having a suitable ground to play in. Their own Allan Park ground is not SFL compliant and an application for a new stadium, currently being reviewed by the Scottish Executive, won’t be processed in time for the start of the season. An option is to continue playing at Allan Park (if the league allows it) or to ground share with Aberdeen while a new stadium is being built. A third option is to get in on the plans Aberdeen currently have running with the council to build a community stadium at the beach. Yet a fourth option is not to bother with applying until you've got your own stadium.
Meanwhile, rivals for the vacancy in the Third Division, Spartans, played what might well be their last game in the East of Scotland league when they beat Vale of Leithen (not to be confused with long extinct Vale of Leven) 7-2 in the King Cup, a competition open to all East of Scotland football association members. Our congratulations go out to Spartans!
Ok, that’s it for today, send your comments and hate mail to the usual address!
No comments:
Post a Comment