Gary Mackay: Poor Pittodrie fare merely emphasises need for change

We travelled to Aberdeen on Saturday with a bit of optimism about the possibility of going into second, but, to be perfectly honest, it wasn't a very good Hearts performance and in the end, we have to be happy to take a point out of a game where our opponents played better than us.

I think you could tell from their facial expressions at full-time that Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown were disappointed with the display - they were certainly entitled to expect a bit more from a team which had been well-freshened up personnel-wise.

In saying that, it wasn't easy for the players because of the state of the pitch. Undersoil heating has undoubtedly played a part in pitches cutting up easier and it definitely didn't help anyone on Saturday because the fare served up by Aberdeen and Hearts was really poor.

It was simply the latest in a long list of games I've seen in recent weeks which has convinced me that Scottish football needs drastic change in order to move forward. I was at McDiarmid Park to see St Johnstone against Dundee United last week and it was also really, really poor fare on a bad surface. Likewise, St Mirren against Hibs last weekend was another shocker to watch.

We have to remember that this is an entertainment business we are in - we are trying to attract people into our stadiums and part with their hard-earned cash, but the paying punters are currently being served up a sub-standard product which offers poor value for money. They're talking about league reconstruction, but I can't see the proposals they are talking about making too much difference.

If you can't have teams playing at the right time of year, on decent pitches, with a decent amount of teams in the league, I can't see how the product is going to get any better.

We need an absolute minimum of 14 teams in the league if we are serious about moving forward. A bigger league is the only way we'll get youngsters coming through. This talk of a ten-team league is a complete nonsense. Having teams playing each other several times a season is not conducive to improving the product. People want a bit of variety.

We have to stop thinking that the way it is at the moment is the right way just because it's what we are used to. Things need to change and I mean for the long-benefit of the game, not simply the short term.

Look at the French. They took stock and went back and changed their whole youth set-up and then went on to win the World Cup about 12 years later.

I'm not saying we'll win the World Cup but we need long-term thinking to improve our game. We need to start taking the lead from other countries, and, although it might not appeal to the traditionalists, we really do have to look seriously at summer football.

If we're not going to move into the summer, we at least have to look at closing down for the winter, because the weather has been brutal in recent winters and the way it's going, all we are going to do is chase people away from the game.

Let's be blunt here. If you had paid 20 to go to the cinema or the theatre and had got the entertainment level that we got at Pittodrie or any of the other games I've highlighted, you would seriously think twice about going back. I'm not having a go at any clubs in particular here, it's simply the overall state of the Scottish game which needs addressed.

Unfortunately, I feel the proposals currently on the table are to the detriment of our game moving forward and I really worry that they are about people with agendas trying to look after their own clubs as opposed to the greater good of Scottish football as a whole. If that is the case, it's very frustrating and disappointing. Change needs to be far more radical than reducing the size of our Premier League by two teams and long-term structure has to be the priority over short-term fix.

Anyway, back to Hearts matters and one of the few positives from Saturday's no-score bore was the display of Marian Kello. Our goalkeeper was once again absolutely outstanding, producing three or four magnificent saves which were crucial to Hearts earning a point. Some people comment on the fact Kello isn't the tallest of goalkeepers, but that doesn't matter a jot as he is still an expert when it comes to keeping the ball out the net.

Jim Cruickshank, Andy Goram, John Burridge and Antti Niemi were all really good keepers who weren't overly blessed with height. Goalkeeping is an art form so I wish people would stop putting an emphasis on how tall a stopper is.

And finally, I'd like to sing the praises of another Hearts player. I spoke about Gordon Smith earlier in the season but I feel compelled to do so again as the young striker is making great use of his loan spell at Stirling Albion. The Binos are struggling but Gordon has added another two goals this past week to go second in the First Division scoring charts.

As I said before, he came into Meadowbank in the summer and really worked his socks off with Bert Logan, and, having done that myself years ago, I know how beneficial it can be. He is now proving that he has the ability to put the ball in the net on a regular basis and, having had this experience at Forthbank, it would be wonderful if he was able to get the chance to start doing that for the Hearts first team.