Jim Goodwin has sympathy for Hearts but St Mirren boss says league reconstruction should not be done just to save Jambos

Saints boss has his say on relegation situation

St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin.

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin has expressed sympathy for Hearts’ plight as they face the prospect of dropping into the Championship but insists league reconstruction should not be implemented to preserve their top flight status.

Relegation for Hearts could be confirmed as soon as Monday when a meeting of the SPFL board is expected to ratify the decision to end the 2019-20 Premiership season and finalise the standings on a points-per-game basis as the table stood when football was suspended on 13 March.

That will see Celtic declared champions while Hearts, who are four points behind Hamilton Accies at the foot of the table with eight games remaining, will be demoted. The SPFL have already ‘called’ the Championship, League 1 and League 2, leading to relegation for Partick Thistle and Stranraer.

Hearts owner Ann Budge is seeking a reprieve for the Gorgie club in the form of league reconstruction, having been given the go-ahead to revive previously aborted discussions on a possible 14-team Premiership for next season.

But Goodwin, whose Saints side beat Hearts 1-0 in a crucial relegation battle just two days before the season was placed in cold storage by the coronavirus pandemic, believes reshaping the current divisional structure in the SPFL would be the wrong call.

“I don’t think there is a single football person out there who doesn’t have sympathy for the situation that Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer find themselves in,” said Goodwin.

“It isn’t fair, of course it’s not. In an ideal world, we would have been able to play out the season and teams would have won leagues on merit and teams would have been relegated because of their performances on the park.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation Hearts find themselves in. I don’t think there is going to be a simple way to come up with an outcome which pleases everyone.

“I don’t think there’s a great deal wrong with any of the leagues at the moment. The problem is we are in a position where teams are going to be relegated with eight games left in the league.

“Hearts have got a legitimate chance of getting themselves out of that position. But I don’t agree with reconstructing the league purely on that matter.

“The leagues are working just fine the way they are. If we hadn’t had this virus coming along the way it did, we wouldn’t be talking about reconstruction at all.

“If they go down the route of reconstruction, that’s fine - we’ll support it, absolutely, if it means promoting two teams to every division. But then, temporary reconstruction, how do you sort it all out again in a couple of years’ time? I think we just open up an even bigger can of worms.

“It’s unfortunate but this is where we’re at. The guys at the top of the SPFL have got to make those difficult decisions and when you’ve got 42 member clubs, it sometimes can be difficult.

“But we had the vote a little while back and it was a resounding majority who voted to finish the leagues as they were.”

Goodwin believes the key influencer on any form of league reconstruction will be broadcasting giants Sky Sports whose new £25 million-a-season five year deal with the SPFL is scheduled to begin at the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

“We’ve just signed a really good package with Sky Sports for a 12-team league,” Goodwin told BBC Sportsound. “That pot of money would have to be divided among two more teams, which would mean people getting less.

“The big player in all of this, when we talk about reconstruction, will be the main investor which is Sky Sports.”

Goodwin, meanwhile, has reacted with scepticism to SPFL chairman Murdoch MacLennan’s call that Scottish football should be aiming to restart matches in July. In addition to Sky Sports’ new deal, Premier Sports are due to begin their new contract for the Betfred Cup.

“I find that (to be) very hopeful, that we will be playing competitive football by the end of July, if I’m brutally honest,” said Goodwin.

“I’m sure there will be some commercial issues when it comes to the Betfred Cup, which normally starts in the middle of July. I don’t know what the ramifications of that will be.

“But there’s no way in the world the players will be back fit and ready to go in the middle of July to play in those games.

“I think we’ll be looking towards the end of August, early September. That’s just my opinion, purely from looking at the situation right now.”