There is nothing new in the world of football and the pain being felt by Hearts players over the delay in getting what they are due has been experienced by players over in Ireland. Hibs manager Pat Fenlon has a great deal of sympathy for the Hearts players his side will face on Monday who are currently chasing unpaid wages. The Hearts first team squad are still chasing wages for December after October and November's money was paid late. Fenlon's last season as manager of Shelbourne was in 2006 when the club struggled to pay him and the players, but he still managed to steer the side to win the Eircom League. However, the club were demoted from the top flight for the start of the following season by the league's licensing committee after an investigation into its finances. He said: "I have experienced a lot of that. It was a regular occurrence in Ireland. The last year I won the league with Shels, me and the players went 14, 15 weeks without any wages so I know what it's like. It didn't get resolved. We won the league, the players were all released and over a period of time they were paid back, but the club got relegated by the league for not paying wages. It's not for me to say what happens here, I don't know the rules, but that's what happened there. It was very difficult. Footballers are like everyone else - they have mortgages and bills to pay and shopping to get. Particularly when I was playing. I don't think the players were earning enough, particularly when I was playing, to put a bit aside. So it's trying to focus their mind on playing and trying to help them off the pitch but my players dealt with it really well and I think the Hearts boys are as well." Fenlon, who is still looking for his first win since taking over at Easter Road, smiled as he remembered the financial challenges of management during those tough times at Shelbourne. He said: "When you are doing some of your coaching badges they give you a little idea of how you deal with financial difficulties. But I was probably able to tell them in the pro-license courses rather than them telling me because I dealt with them long enough. So I have faced harder things than what happens here at the moment."
Source: FOOTYMAD
