Heartbreaking but Mercer must either pay up or sell up

serious trouble.

Their manager, Joe Jordan, who was welcomed as the man capable of

leading them on to great things when he signed on two years ago, has

been sacked, the chairman, Wallace Mercer, has disappeared off into the

Continent, and there is talk now of players being upset over money they

claim is owed to them. Also, #5m has to be found to reconstruct the

stadium if the demands of the Taylor Report are to be met.

There can be little doubt about it, Hearts, who have failed to secure

the compensation of a place in next season's UEFA Cup competition, do

appear to be in turmoil. In fact, their problems might be even more

serious than any of us suspect.

The club's supporters, who have suffered long and painfully for the

cause, are entitled to wonder why the chairman, a man who always

responded to the sight of a camera or reporter's notebook by clicking

into verbal overdrive, has been keeping such a low profile these past

six weeks or so.

It has been suggested his doctor advised him to take a break after

having been divorced from his property group, and if it is the case that

Mercer is in need of some genuine leisure time without the worry of

running a club where ambition has always outstripped reality, then so be

it.

Everyone at some point requires free time, if only to recharge the

batteries, but the fact is Mercer is being marked absent at a critical

time for his club.

Of course, knowing Mercer, he could return at any time to chastise

those who have doubted or suggested his reservoir of enthusiasm has

dried up and to make pronouncements with all the flamboyance and

colourful bombast of a ring-master. Remember, he saved this club from

extinction once before, so perhaps he is worth the benefit of the doubt

this time around.

At the very least Mercer should be given more time, but not a lot, to

come up with another survival package.

It would help, though, if he should bear in mind that his club are in

serious decline and that in the short space of time since the days when

he was threatening to buy city rivals Hibernian circumstances have

changed dramatically.

Already it has been demonstrated that Hearts' players are much too

limited to ensure the degree of success required and unless money is

made available to Sandy Clark, who will probably be named Jordan's

successor, the club will continue to scrape around in the middle reaches

of the premier division.

That would seem to be the future for Hearts, but it might be even

bleaker should more players have to be sold off to appease creditors.

Dave McPherson was sold back to Rangers, but Jordan wasn't allowed to

take the #1m fee and strengthen his squad, and if, as seems likely, Alan

McLaren also has to be moved on there would be no point in Clark

knocking on the boardroom door asking for his share.

In fact, Clark probably would not bother asking, because he has been

at Tynecastle long enough to be under no illusions about the enormity of

his task or the horrendous problems facing his club.

In Clark, the team have been given a leader, but recently there seems

to have been a lack of leadership from within the boardroom. Hearts are

like a ship which has slipped its anchor and are drifting dangerously

close to oblivion, especially now that players, who claim to be owed

payments, have run out of patience.

Apparently a player has approached the Scottish Professional

Footballers' Association for assistance in securing the money due from

bonuses and signing-on fees, and if legal action is taken, one of the

avenues could lead to sequestration. Closure of Hearts would be the next

step.

However, it is unrealistic of anyone to believe that the SPFA, who are

already concerned that players will be paid off in the near future

because of football's economic crisis, or any of their members would be

party to a move which forced shut the doors of a club. They are,

nevertheless, still entitled to their money.

Too much is going wrong at Tynecastle and Mercer should make some kind

of utterance, even if anything he might say serves only to make the fans

realise things are worse than the rumours. If they are not, then surely

the chairman would have said so some time ago. After all, he does love

an audience.

Perhaps the time has arrived for fresh impetus at Tynecastle, a new

face on the block. It was felt Jordan had done all he could with limited

resources and maybe Mercer has achieved all he can with the club, in

which case he really has a duty to make it known he would go if the

right offer was delivered.

It would pain him to go, and he would find it cold being out of the

limelight, but there is more at stake here than anyone's pride.

If standing down and allowing someone else the opportunity to take the

club forward is the only way around the current problems, then Mercer

should go.