Gary Mackay: Locke can hold the key to success at Hearts academy

Published on Monday 1 February 2010 08:49

I THINK most Hearts fans will look upon the arrival of Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown as a positive step for the football club. These are men who know the club inside out.

But the person I'm most delighted for is Gary Locke, who looks like he's going to be confirmed as first-team coach.

Gary's had a few setbacks in the past few months since leaving Kilmarnock, but now it looks like he's going to get a chance to be involved at first-team level with the club he loves and that's something he'll revel in.

I've been saying for months that we need a professional link between the Academy and the first team and I think Gary will be perfect for that.

As well as working with the first team I'm sure Gary will have a part to play in the further development of the talented youngsters at Hearts. The main thing that I expect him to bring is a professional outlook to some of the younger players, who are currently in the first-team squad. He can teach them the habits that allow them to go on and play well over 100 games for the Hearts first team, as he did.

Sandy Clark played a key role in helping nurture the likes of Paul Ritchie, Allan Johnston, Allan McManus and Lockey himself in the early nineties and I'm convinced Gary can do something similar.

I expect him to put back in what he learned from Sandy and also what he's taken on board from all his years working under Jim and Billy.

Gary will also bring a buzz to the training, but he'll not just be some kind of training-ground joker.

When he played for Hearts he was a total professional – his training ethic was superb and he worked so hard. It will be vitally important that his obvious enthusiasm for the club, along with that of Jim and Billy, rubs off on the current players.

Professional footballers know good people when they work with them and that's why the Kilmarnock players were so gutted that Gary wasn't allowed to stay. Gary only wants the best for the people around him. He wanted the best for the Killie players when he was there, even though they weren't the club he loves, but this is the club that he loves and I know he'll prove to be a real asset for Hearts.

Amid all the events of the past few days, however, I don't think we should forget that a man has lost his job. I think, in relation to the tools he's had to work with, Csaba Laszlo did a good job for Hearts. After a bad start to the season, he had picked things up to an acceptable level, with the exception of the Aberdeen game. Fair enough, the football maybe wasn't the most enjoyable and we had just been outplayed by an Aberdeen team that I don't think are anything special, but we had been seven games unbeaten before that, so the timing of it has really surprised me. I don't think the job he did for Hearts should be forgotten and I think it's really unfortunate that he's lost his job.

After the unexpected events of Friday evening, it was disappointing to lose in the first game under the new manager. There were very few positives to take from the defeat to St Johnstone but we were missing so many players so I don't think we need to dwell on it too much.

We now have a big semi-final to look forward to tomorrow and it's imperative we get back on track in that one. My one concern about this game, as I highlighted last week, is the state of the Fir Park pitch. With that in mind, to get a result, it is going to require a wholehearted, passionate performance from the team but that's exactly why Jim and Billy have been brought back to the club.