Gary Mackay: So far so good for Hearts as plan pays off for Jefferies

I've kept on saying that November - when everybody has played each other - is about the right time to start judging how things are shaping up in the league, and that remains the case.

But for Hearts to be in third place after five games of the campaign and for our away form to have been as good as it has been - the Celtic game excepted, although everybody seems to be losing to them these days - is really encouraging.

Regular readers will know how highly I think of Calum Elliot and it was fantastic to see his personal renaissance continue as he took his tally to four goals in three games on Saturday. Kenny Miller's been the man everyone in Scotland's talking about as he's taken up the goalscoring mantle at Rangers since Kris Boyd left. But with Calum it's been the other way round as he seems to have responded positively to the addition of rival strikers in the form of Kevin Kyle and Stephen Elliott. Long may his hot streak continue. It was also great for Ryan Stevenson to get his first goal. Hopefully that will settle him down when he gets into scoring positions, because he looks like he has the potential to be a good composed finisher rather than an instinctive finisher. He's got a good first touch and I think he could be a big player for Hearts.

Big Kyle also made a telling impact when he came on. We were finding it difficult early on but, when Ian Black got injured, Kyle came on, Stevenson dropped back to midfield and we kind of fell into a system by accident that helped us go on and win the game. That's nothing against wee Blackie at all, but sometimes things happen in games that can have a positive effect without anybody being aware of it. Stevenson was able to play in a position he feels more comfortable in and Kyle gave us a physical presence that we didn't have prior to that.

All in, it was a great result at Inverness - really, really positive.

But probably just as uplifting for me were the quotes which were attributed to Jim Jefferies in the newspapers yesterday, where he reaffirmed that he is the manager and he is the man who decides who does and doesn't play. He will accept anyone that Mr Romanov wants to bring to the club, with Rudi Skacel becoming the latest such case, but ultimately it will be Jim that decides whether they play or not. Such talk is music to my ears.

My preference would still be that the manager got to pick the players who get signed, but it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case any time soon. On the other hand, the manager's been able to bring in Kyle, Stevenson and Elliott, who were all his signings, so we've got to take heart from that.

As for the arrival of Skacel himself, only time will tell if it proves to be a good move. He played in Robbie Neilson's testimonial a few years ago, which I was also involved in, and I must say I was struck by how strong and powerful he was. He looked a lot taller close-up than he seemed when I used to watch him from the stand in the 2005/06 season. People are getting excited about it, but I think we have to remember that Rudi is now into his 30s. People will probably say I started going downhill when I hit 25, but I think it's generally acknowledged that most professional players start to lose a bit of an edge when they get into their 30s. Yes, there are guys like David Weir, Ryan Giggs and Paul Hartley, who are still going strong deep into their 30s but these guys are in the minority. I'm not saying Rudi isn't capable of enhancing the current Hearts side, but there's certainly no guarantees he'll be as successful as he was first time. It's not always easy for a player to return to a club and have the same success but maybe Tynecastle will prove to have been his spiritual home after all and he might start scoring the goals and showing the quality of his first spell. If that is the case then we'll hold our hands up and say the owner got it right.

I would have to say that looking at the players that have come to Hearts over the past five years or so, more often than not it has been those signed by the managers rather than Mr Romanov who have proved to be the best ones. That list includes Rudi, who proved to be an excellent signing by George Burley five years ago. Jim Jefferies has brought in Stevenson, whom not many Hearts fans were aware of and he has proved to be a shrewd signing. To unearth someone like that from Ayr United is a greater measurement of someone's genuine football knowledge and ability to talent-spot than for someone to bring Skacel back, because we all know about Rudi's pedigree. That's not being disrespectful to Rudi as a player - I am simply saying that I'd feel more comfortable about his arrival if it was the manager's decision rather than the owner's.

The great thing about the arrival of Skacel, though, is that it's been immediately followed by a superb away victory. It's always good to add to your squad from a position of strength, when you're winning games, rather than bringing players into a struggling team when it can be harder for them to find their feet.

It doesn't look like he'll be ready for the League Cup game at Falkirk -I see that as a good chance for Jim to blood one or two of the guys on the fringes who are maybe champing at the bit to get a game.

But we may well see Rudi's return in what is already shaping up as a really important home match with Motherwell on Saturday.

In some ways, it's a bit of a six-pointer as the Steelmen look like being one of our main rivals in the battle for third. They are only a point behind us, but if you are able to open up a four-point gap over them, even this early in the season, it allows you a nice cushion where you know that you have to lose two and they have to win two to overtake you. Given how well Craig Brown and Archie Knox have done at Fir Park, however, that will be easier said than done, especially coming hot on the heels of what is sure to be a tough game at Falkirk.

Sorry Bert about that bet

Hopefully Bert Logan, my business partner, won't read this column, with me bigging up Hearts, because it was little over a month ago that I talked him out of backing my beloved Jambos to finish third at 9/2. With us currently sitting pretty in behind the Old Firm, I don't think such tasty odds will be available any more.