Gary Mackay: Stability must be the name of the game for Romanov

You might say it's been a typical end to a disappointing season overall for Hearts.

But, when asked for my lowest point of this campaign, I won't be picking out any abject defeats, cup exits or managerial issues. For me, the worst moment of the season came last week upon learning of my club's potentially perilous financial situation.

For Hearts to have a bigger debt than Rangers is something that really scares me, especially considering our average gate is around 14,000 and Rangers' is close to 50,000. You could almost accept our debt increasing to almost 35 million if we were up challenging at the top of the table and we had plenty sellable assets, but that hasn't been the case. The feedback I've had from knowledgeable financial people about our latest accounts is extremely concerning. The amount of money that the club has wasted over the past few years has been inexcusable and it simply can't be allowed to continue. If we aren't already, we could really find ourselves in trouble some time down the line.

As I said before, it's not even like the club's getting a good return on its exorbitant investment. When you compare what we've been spending against what the likes of Motherwell and even Hibs have spent, then there's something far wrong when those sides are able to finish ahead of us. Rod Petrie at Hibs is much maligned for being frugal but, at the end of the day, football is a business and, in my opinion, he must be applauded for the way he runs such a tight ship.

Every penny we spend from now on has to be spent wisely. If the budget is going to remain at a decent level for next season, then it's imperative that Jim Jefferies is allowed to have full control over what happens in terms of comings and goings. The haphazard way things have been done in recent years just isn't good enough.

We are entering our fifth full season under our current owner and I think everyone agrees it's high time things settled down and we got some stability back at our club. The word that keeps coming into my head is structure – I don't think there has been a structure at the club since Vladimir Romanov arrived and that has to change. Like Wallace Mercer and Chris Robinson before him, Romanov is a custodian of the football club and, with that in mind, he must act to protect Hearts' future.

Jefferies has had a connection with Hearts in a professional capacity for over 35 years, while I've had a connection with the club for a similar length of time. There are people who have been following this club for 60 years and more, and, considering how close so many of us are to Hearts, it is imperative that this proud club of ours is able to go forward in a far more stable manner than it has done over the past few years.

If things were to change in terms of Romanov's ability or desire to continue in charge of the football club, we would be in deep trouble. We found it hard enough to attract Romanov when the debt, although still substantial, was nowhere near what it is now. Needless to say, I wouldn't fancy our chances of finding a new buyer the way things are at present.

In my eyes, this is crunch time for Romanov – this summer is critical for his regime and the future of Hearts.

The one thing that gives me hope, however, is the positive noises coming from Jefferies in the past few months.

As everyone is all too aware, we've had a ridiculous number of managers over the past five years and football clubs simply cannot operate successfully with such regular upheaval.

Fortunately, the owner's relationship with Jim seems to be more harmonious at present than it has been with some of his predecessors. Since coming back to Tynecastle, Jim has already said he'll be happy to work on a reduced budget and still get Hearts challenging for the top four, so at least that's a step in the right direction both in terms of reducing the debt and getting the club back in the upper reaches of the Premier League.

He has introduced young David Templeton and brought in Ryan Stevenson for a nominal fee from Ayr United which is further proof that he is still well capable of operating under tight financial restrictions.

As a beleaguered group of Hearts supporters, we can only hope that the return of Jim as manager earlier this year proves to be a turning point in terms of Mr Romanov being able to run the football club in a more stable and successful manner for the next few months, years and maybe even decades.

General Lee has led the way

IN what has been a mediocre season for Hearts, the highlight for me has probably been avoiding defeat against Hibs throughout the campaign.

Those four derbies showed what we were capable of, although it is obviously tempered by the fact the lack of stability at the club meant we were unable to replicate that form consistently enough to finish above our city rivals over the course of the season.

Undoubtedly, the player of the season has been Lee Wallace, closely followed by Eggert Jonsson. Lee has improved as the season has progressed and has shown remarkable consistency.

If anything, he's got even better since Jim Jefferies took over and has been Hearts' outstanding success story this season.