THE chairman of the consortium attempting to achieve a fan-led takeover of Hearts last night described as "very concerning" the interest in the club of the former Livingston owner Angelo Massone.
Alex Mackie insisted the Foundation of Hearts supporters group will have no dealings with controversial Italian. The Livingston chief executive Ged Nixon also warned Hearts to tread cautiously in any dealings with Massone.
He has reportedly submitted a written bid of £4.5m on behalf of an Italian consortium which, he claims, would be willing to hand a percentage of the club to supporters, should their takeover prove successful.
Massone has claimed the consortium would sign "important international players" to turn Hearts into a "major challenger to Celtic". The 41-year-old added that if the Italian bid failed, they could consider pooling resources with Foundation of Hearts.
However, Mackie dismissed any idea of working with Massone, who took Livingston to the brink of extinction during his 12-month reign, which ended in the summer of 2009. "We did not know anything about this interest, and we certainly would not look to have any dealings with them at all," Mackie said.
"Our focus is making the Foundation of Hearts into a legitimate vehicle for fan ownership. To that end, we do not believe working with Angelo Massone's consortium would be a positive move. It is a development which I believe is very concerning."
Massone, a Roman lawyer, purchased a 76% majority shareholding in Livingston for £1 from Pearse Flynn in 2008 and presided over the most tumultuous period in the club's short history.
Livingston were placed in administration due to debts to West Lothian Council, from whom they rent Almondvale, in July 2009. After initially refusing to sell his stake in the club, despite furious protests from fans, Massone eventually accepted an offer of £50,000 for his shares.
Nixon helped save Livingston after they narrowly survived Massone's ill-fated reign. The Scottish Football League demoted them from the first division to the third over a breach of insolvency rules.
He said: "I think the stakeholders and fans of Hearts would be well advised to talk to the supporters of Livingston to find out about the experience they had of dealing with Mr Massone.
"They should look upon this bid sceptically and with caution before embracing Mr Massone, and look at West Lothian's experience of the individual."
Supporters Direct, the government-funded group which is mediating talks between Hearts of Midlothian plc and the Foundation of Hearts, will hold further talks with the club on Wednesday.
The Hearts share issue, meanwhile, suffered a blow, with the club forced to stop accepting credit and debit card payments. They appealed to supporters last night not to let this discourage them from buying shares.
It is understood the organisation providing card services were concerned by the prospect of fans trying to claim money back from them if Hearts went out of business. Cards can still be used to buy merchandise and match tickets.
The fans' response to the share issue was crucial to the club's ability to win more time to settle the unpaid £450,000 tax bill that threatens its existence. An estimated £2m has been raised.
A Hearts spokesman said: "We appreciate this may cause significant inconvenience to our fans but there remain a number of ways in which they can still buy their shares: by cash, cheque, banker's draft and Zebra Finance's 10-month payment plan.
"The share offer remains open until December 19 and it is vitally important that supporters continue to give the club as much direct backing as they can."
Dylan McGowan, the Hearts midfielder, said the players were only too happy to defer their November wages after being astonished by the level of the supporters' backing.
Ahead of today's home match against St Mirren, the Australian said: "We have been taken aback from the response by the fans. They are digging deep in tough times. It really humbles you as a player to play for a club like this."
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