Hearts CVA meeting delayed as manager Locke criticises Lithuanian’s

The CVA meeting that will decide whether Hearts go into liquidation has been postponed by a week.

Creditors of the stricken Edinburgh side will meet at Tynecastle to decide the fate of the club next Friday- just two days before the club is due to meet Celtic in the Scottish Cup.

The meeting scheduled for today has been postponed to give Ukio Bankas and UBIG, both Lithuanian owned companies, more time to evaluate the CVA  in which they will decide the fate of the club.

If the CVA isn’t accepted by 75% of the creditors Hearts will die like Rangers triggering an emergency for the SFA as they attempt to provide a new club with a place in the top two divisions without any audited accounts.

Between them Ukio and UBIG are owed £23.7m from Hearts total debt of £28m with the CVA offering them around £2.5m despite Tynecastle occupying a prime residential spot in Edinburgh.

Anticipating a delay, and criticising the club’s major creditors, earlier this week Hearts boss Gary Locke said: “Everyone associated with the club just wants to see Hearts come out of administration so we can move forward.

“Hopefully we will get good news this week, although I’m not 100 per cent sure it will be straightforward having dealt with people in Lithuania in the past.

“I’m a supporter as well and you just want Hearts to get back on their feet again. I think that’s what everybody wants. It might be a wee bit longer than everybody thinks.

“At the start of the season, we weren’t in a favourable position but thanks to the fans’ support we’ve got ourselves into a position where hopefully a CVA can be agreed.

“If that’s the case, we can all begin to look ahead instead of looking back all the time. Being able to make signings in January would be great. We’ve said all along we’ve got a paper-thin squad and a young squad.

“At the start of any season, you’re looking to start with about 25 players5. We have a squad of around 14 or 15, and then we’ve had to add younger lads at 16 and 17 years old to make up the numbers.

“It would be great if we could strengthen the team but the most important thing is to get out of administration and start moving in the right direction.”