Hearts should model their club on Hibs, says Gary Mackay

HEARTS have lessons to learn from Edinburgh rivals Hibernian both on and off the pitch, Gary Mackay said yesterday. The record-holder for appearances with the Tynecastle club, Mackay thinks Hibs' financial prudence and their record of producing first-team regulars are admirable and enviable.

"The model at the other side of the city is the one that Hearts should look at as to how the football club should be run," Mackay said yesterday. "Hibs are debt-free, and the Hibs supporters can be negative towards (chairman] Rod Petrie all they want, but he runs a football club that anybody, not just in Britain, but anybody in the world would be delighted with.

"Hibs are debt-free, own their own academy and produce players on a regular basis – and I mean players that have gone on to play over 100 games for the club. That is exactly the kind of club that the Hearts supporters are looking for. They have a good manager who has worked wonders to lift them again, and you don't wonder what are the long-term prospects for the football club."

Having praised the Easter Road side and manager John Hughes, Mackay was quick to add that he was pleased by the recent progress Csaba Laszlo and Hearts have made. The 1-1 draw in Sunday's Edinburgh derby stretched Hearts' unbeaten run to five matches, and Mackay thinks the club's directors should agree to Laszlo's plea to sign at least one experienced striker.

"The supporters are at the stage where they have to show their frustrations if the manager is not backed by the directors and owners in the transfer window. I wasn't sure if Csaba was looking for a way out himself after the way things started, but he has identified players and that does not matter if it is strikers or full-backs but he has got his head down and turned things around. The manager has shown that he is capable of managing a team to compete in the SPL again and it is only right that he is given some support.

"I was always banging on about transparency in the previous regime and it is the same at this moment in time. The Hearts fans are deserving of better knowledge of what is the end game for the football club.