It must be hard to agree to cut your income by 50% but 'keeper Jamie Macdonald says he agreed to a reduced salary as a thank you to Hearts fans who have rallied around the stricken club. MacDonald, Ryan Stevenson and Jamie Hamill have all agreed to accept new conditions in a bid to help the club progress under administration. The club owe over £25m to Lithuanian companies UBIG and Ukio Bankas. UBIG is waiting to be put into administration after its assets were frozen, while Ukio Bankas will soon be liquidated after a Kaunas court declared it insolvent. Hearts finally agreed to go into administration earlier this month after court action was threatened over a partially-paid £100,000 tax bill. Macdonald praised fans, who have been buying season tickets in an attempt to aid the club's chances of survival.
He said: "They have been fantastic, buying so many season tickets. Hopefully more of them keep doing that. I had to think carefully about taking the cut as I have a family and a mortgage to pay. But at the end of the day this club means everything to me and it's a wee thank you to the fans for what they have done."
Some hard decision have had to be made by Administrators BDO as they strive to keep the club in business and 14 members of staff have lost their jobs. Macdonald admits he is looking forward to returning for pre-season and the chance to take his mind off off-field matters. He added: "I have to admit it's not something I usually look forward to but I can't wait to get back into training tomorrow. The last few days have been extremely difficult for me personally as I have seen a lot of good people at the club lose their jobs. Getting back in amongst the boys and the banter will be good."