Withdrawal has Gretna on the brink says MacGregor

Published on Sunday 1 June 2008 23:05

GRETNA chairman Ron MacGregor admits time is almost up for the club after the only known interested buyer gave up hope of a rescue package.

A consortium fronted by football agency consultant, Paul Davies, is set to tell administrators that their bid is dead.

The offer was doomed when the Scottish Football League voted to demote Gretna to the Irn-Bru Third Division on Thursday.

SFL chief executive David Longmuir claimed the proposed business plan was "fundamentally flawed" and offered no guarantee of paying off the club's football debts.

MacGregor said: "I think basically we are in between a rock and a hard place, primarily as a result of the SFL management committee's decision to not allow us to take the normal route into the First Division.

"I think the place in the SFL is still very valuable and we are just hoping to hear from someone who might look at taking the club on.

"Paul Davies has been heading the group who were interested but all their plans were based on First Division football. They just feel they can't make it viable.

"We are working under the administrator and we just hope he can hang on for someone to very quickly come in and take it on."

The SFL have given the club until the "very early" part of the week to find a buyer, with administrator David Elliot expected to wind up the club on Tuesday in the extremely likely event that none emerges.

&#149 Hibs have been handed a boost after summer signing target Fabian Yantorno revealed he is ahead of schedule in his comeback from a serious knee injury.

The 25-year-old tore his cruciate ligament playing for Gretna against Falkirk in mid-January and was then released by the struggling Raydale Park outfit when it became clear they could not afford to pay for his treatment.

However, Easter Road manager Mixu Paatelainen stepped in to provide the Uruguayan with an SPL lifeline when he offered the marksman the use of Hibs' new state-of-the-art training facilities and the possibility of a contract when he returns to fitness.

And Yantorno has declared himself ready to try and convince Paatelainen he deserves a deal when he returns from a two week break in South America on 16 June.

He said: "The injury is already better than the doctor and I thought because I have started running at three-quarter pace.

"My knee is getting better. I'm very happy and the physios are too. I come back on June 16 to continue my rehab. Then we will see if I can start pre-season and impress."