Danny Wilson has revealed he sought guarantees from Hearts' administrators that his signing would not cause further redundancies at the stricken club.
A gap in the regulations enabled the Scotland defender to convert his loan deal from Liverpool into a permanent move, even though the Tynecastle club were under a signing embargo. Hearts had announced the signing of the defender on a three-year contract prior to their entry into administration, despite not officially registering him.
Administrators BDO released 14 office staff in a bid to ease cashflow problems, while players Jamie MacDonald, Ryan Stevenson, Jamie Hamill and Kevin McHattie agreed to pay cuts. Wilson, who has been named captain, insists he was determined that his arrival would not compound the club's problems.
"I had a meeting with the administrators and that was one of the main things I spoke about," Wilson said. "It's terrible people lost their jobs and I did feel bad. I said to the administrator that if me coming back in any way harms the club further that I didn't want to do it. We talked around it, I've taken the wage cut to stay and he said to me it wouldn't be that way. It was as blunt as saying I will come back as long as no-one else loses their job.
"Hopefully when the club gets back on it's feet there is a chance for them to get their jobs back. I did feel bad. I took the cut, I did what I could to limit the financial strain on the club as much as possible."
The administrators, however, have spoken of the need to strike a balance between making the club financially stable and keeping a competitive team on the pitch given that Gary Locke's side will start the campaign with a 15-point penalty. Leading the club in that challenge is one that Wilson is relishing.
"The captaincy is a massive honour but we don't have many senior players on the pitch so no matter who the captain is, everyone has to be a leader on the pitch," he said. "That includes the young boys. But I'm delighted and I'll strive to be the best captain I can be. We're going to have a tough season so we need everyone pulling in the same direction.
"I was surprised but the manager discussed it and asked how I felt about it but there's no way you're going to turn down a captaincy."
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