In my privileged position as a Scottish football journalist I’ve frequented many press areas belonging to this country’s biggest clubs, and it gives me no pleasure in admitting that Tynecastle Park, home of my boyhood heroes, has one of the worst.
It's cramped, it's awkward and each table has a plexiglass box which gives every reporter the option of either crouching down to watch the game through them or straining either above or beyond it to try and get a clear view of the action. The club needed to install these obstructions after quickly learning that having a media section so low down a stand in Scotland was not a good idea; not with the propensity for rain and the likelihood of that coming into contact with electronic equipment. Those currently in charge in Gorgie have, to their credit, explored the possibility of moving the section up to the back of the stand, but it would require extensive rewiring to make it workable and that would cost too much.
I tell you this, dear reader, not to try and garner any sort of sympathy. I know that fans couldn't care less whether journalists covering their club are comfortable. Indeed, in many cases, you'd probably prefer the chair, table and plastic box to be replaced with a pillory and a bucket of rotten tomatoes. But it is an example of the lack of logical planning which went into building the main stand at Tynecastle; a project that was supposed to be finished in the opening weeks of the 2017/18 season but went on until mid-November and continued to have issues with power outages for the rest of the year. A new stand which saw its overall cost go from an estimated £12 million to north of £20 million. A rebuild which also, embarrassingly, included a moment where the club had to announce a significant delay due to a failure to order seats.
Read more:
- Matt O’Riley leaves Celtic for Brighton in Scottish record transfer
- 'A little emotional': Matt O'Riley explains Celtic transfer departure
Well, the man who was widely believed to be responsible for overseeing that project, Hearts' chief operating officer at the time, has been in the news quite a bit recently for issues that another club have suffered under his stewardship. I am talking about Inverness Caledonian Thistle and their now-departed chief executive, Scot Gardiner.
The Caley Jags were in a horrendous position just a couple of weeks ago. In dreadful financial peril, there was an immediate threat of administration and the white knight favoured by Gardiner, Ketan Makwana and his Seventy7 Ventures company, didn't appear to have the required capital to save the Highland club. The entrepreneur even admitted himself to being turned down by several other teams.
Although not entirely out of the woods yet, Inverness do seem to have staved off any immediate threat to their existence with the return of former chairman Alan Savage. He has been handed control of the finances and has so far convinced directors to convert loans into equity or waive them altogether, saving them millions, while there have been discussions with Portuguese investors about a future takeover once things have settled down. Savage himself is said to have made a major cash contribution just to ensure the previous weekend's match with Montrose went ahead.
As part of Savage's return, Gardiner resigned from his post with immediate effect. Already a deeply unpopular figure with supporters, Gardiner has been frankly criticised by Savage, who was aghast at the situation he walked into. He described Gardiner's continued presence as a "major problem" for Caley Thistle, revealing that the ex-CEO sat on 7,000 unread emails and spoke of potential legal battles down the road.
There is now hope in the Highlands that the club can repair relationships with local businesses and potential investors, which are said to have been strained during Gardiner's tenure. Even ex-chairman Ross Morrison admitted in an episode of fans' podcast The Wyness Shuffle earlier this year, while defending Gardiner, that his colleague's communication skills were a little "abrasive".
It was also levied at Gardiner from supporters that he too often seemed to chase outside ventures to try and generate money rather than deal with the bread and butter. To put it mildly, these attempts were not successful. The Inverness Caledonian Thistle Concert Company went into liquidation. Then there was the hope that investment in a battery farm would bring in the funds necessary to pay off creditors, but that went to pot when the local council rejected the plans. This then led to the desperate attempt to save money earlier this summer by moving the entire footballing department to Fife by sharing training facilities with Kelty Hearts. A proposal which, again the brainchild of Gardiner, had the fanbase on the verge of mutiny.
Read more:
- Scotland midfielder ends Luton Town exile by joining Charlton on loan
- Where now for Steve Clarke and Scotland after Euro 2024 failure?
Gardiner's downfall in the Highland capital will come as little surprise to Dundee supporters, who aren't exactly enamoured with him following a two-year spell as CEO at Dens Park between 2012 and 2014. To be fair to Gardiner, there was some good he did for Dundee as he played a significant role in bringing in Tim Keys and John Nelms, the club's current owners. He also helped steady the place following a chaotic fan-owned period after the club's second administration. However, it was the hiring of John Brown as manager which left a lasting sour taste. (Appointing an big-name, former Rangers player with a less-than-stellar background in management is a Gardiner trait that Caley Thistle fans are all too familiar with.) Dundee also entered the 2014/15 season with the unknown Hangar Records as their main shirt sponsorship, which led to accusations Gardiner had dropped the ball on that front prior to his departure.
We're used to players and managers doing the rounds in Scottish football with a number of fanbases able to swap horror stories after their departures, though it's a lot rarer that it happens with club custodians.
Will Gardiner get a fourth opportunity? Aside from the main stand debacle, there are few other complaints regarding his day-to-day running at Tynecastle, while Dens was something of a mixed bag. So there are some successes to point to. But the wreckage at Inverness is so disastrous that it’s hard to imagine another club, at least any at the full time level, will turn to him in a time of need.
