Gary Mackay: ‘It’s a day to embrace’

IF you cut Gary Mackay, he would bleed maroon and, even though he has several Hibs players on his football agency’s books, the Hearts legend still wants Saturday’s Scottish Cup final to end in victory for his favourites.

But, in an appeal to both sets of supporters, Mackay last week pointed out that there is already a winner of the big match – Edinburgh football.

He said: “I hope we’re celebrating for Edinburgh because the capital has been put back on the football map. Hopefully both sets of supporters will celebrate that going into the game.

“I’m driving a minibus through with 14 of my friends in it and I’ll be stone-cold sober before and after the game because I think it’s a day to embrace. I hope between now and the final that both clubs do more to work together and celebrate what this means.

“It’s 116 years since the last final between them, it’s a chance to show there is rivalry but that it can be harnessed in a positive way. That’s why I want to be sober because, if Hearts win it, I want to embrace the fans I’m with.

“And, if it was to go the other way, then I want to be able to speak to the Billy Browns and Paul Hanlons and congratulate them. It sounds reasonably mature for me and maybe at 5.15pm I’ll decide to leave the minibus at Hampden!”

More than a decade after the end of his 20-year playing career – nearly all of it spent at Tynecastle where he holds the club appearance record – Mackay looked back on a previous Hibs versus Hearts Scottish Cup encounter and highlighted the pressure on the two squads.

Mackay said: “My best derby memory is the Scottish Cup fourth round at Easter Road in 1994 where Wayne Foster, right, scored the winner. And this is magnified a hundred, a thousand, a millionfold.

“That game is nothing in comparison to the match that will be played on 19 May at Hampden.

“That was Wayne’s first goal that season at that stage in the Scottish Cup and he was the individual who got all the acclaim. Hibs had hammered us on the day, it was 1-1 when he got the winner and he’s been revered by the fans ever since.

“And there will be a hero on 19 May. From a Hearts point of view it would be great if it was a Hearts player. Or will it be a manager who makes a tactical decision as Paulo Sergio did at half-time in the semi-final?

“Will it be someone like Billy Brown who started the season off with Hearts and is now on the Hibs coaching staff and knows so much about the Hearts? Someone will be critical to the game in the way that Wayne was. A hero for life.

“I just hope it’s positive and not someone being remembered for the wrong reasons. I remember when we lost the league on the last day in 1986, Walter Kidd then got sent off in the Cup final the following week. Would we have won the Cup anyway? Probably not [Hearts lost 0-3 to Aberdeen]. But you don’t want your team to lose due to someone getting caught up in what will be an incredibly emotional and tense afternoon.”

Mackay never won a Premier League or cup winner’s medal while at Hearts. “The closest I probably came to winning a cup was against Rangers at Celtic Park in [the League Cup final] 1996, but winning or losing a cup final to your Edinburgh rivals? It will be unbearable for that group of players throughout the summer.

“The emotions the players and staff will go through in the build-up to the game, during it and after it will be incredible.”

His own emotions are stirred, not least because he is in a win-win situation as a licensed agent, should any of his charges be in the Hibs squad that breaks the 110-year Scottish Cup hoodoo – instant footballing immortality will arrive for any player in green who achieves that feat.

“It’s slightly different for me going into this game than when I played,” said Mackay. “Yes, my heart will always be at Tynecastle but I have a [Hibs] interest because of Paul Hanlon, Callum Booth and the young lad Paul Grant, who will probably be on the bench for Hibs.

“I’d love for them to be part of team who breaks that run. But I’ve said to Paul Hanlon, I don’t want you breaking the run against Hearts. It could be anyone else – but not Hearts! “

The recurring craziness off the field at Tynecastle under owner Vladimir Romanov – question: “Should he attend?”, answer: “No comment” – means that manager Paulo Sergio does not yet have a contract extension.

“I’d love to see stability but does anything surprise you at Hearts?” asked Mackay. “A manager who looked like he might have won the Premier League one year was removed from office due to inside influences or people losing the plot.

“Would Paulo Sergio’s record of maybe qualifying for Europe and winning the Scottish Cup be enough? I’m not convinced it would be. I think, along with Andy Webster, Ian Black has been the most influential player this season and he isn’t being kept on so nothing surprises me at Hearts.

“In football, teams break up, but it seems to be more common at Hearts because of financial mismanagement. I think two years ago Hearts had a bigger staff than Liverpool so you can understand why it’s happened. But the longevity of the football club is most important and there are people who are paying for that with their jobs.”

Of one thing Mackay is certain: “Both clubs are lucky to have very strong management teams who will have a different feel for it. Paulo Sergio has his two assistants but there’s a balance with [first-team coach] Gary Locke who knows the derby and Pat Fenlon will be helped immensely by Billy Brown.

“We talk about history and I’d love for Gary Locke to be part of a group to go up and accept the Scottish Cup. But to think Billy Brown could be the first guy ever to be involved with both Edinburgh clubs in winning the Scottish Cup would be magical. They’re lucky these guys will put individual thoughts to one side to try and get the best from their players. But I wouldn’t want to be either manager.”

Mackay the fan will suffer the pressure just as much as every player, coach and fan next Saturday. Hampden will be no place for faint Hearts, or faint Hibbies either.