Mackay admits relegation may be necessary price
GARY MACKAY insists relegation may have to be the sporting price Hearts pay for lives to be saved in the country.
The Jambos legend admits the breakdown of reconstruction talks has not come as a surprise, fearing from the outset that Tynecastle chief executive Ann Budge’s role at the head of the task force was doomed to failure.
The 56-year-old is adamant the players will always have been desperate to stave off relegation on the pitch, rather than have their top-flight status saved by a league revamp.
But Hearts’ record appearance holder admits the prospect of the season finishing now appears slim.
And he believes the Gorgie men – bottom of the Premiership table with eight games remaining – may simply have to accept there are bigger things going on in the world at the moment as nations battle the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “The difficulty within the task force right away was that it was being headed by two clubs – in Hearts and Hamilton – who are at the bottom of the league.
“The fact that it was Ann and Les Gray from Hamilton, I was always worried that was a sign there wasn’t anybody willing to take on that role.
“I credit them for taking it on but am I surprised at the outcome? Probably not. Nothing surprises me in Scottish football in general right now.
“I wasn’t hopeful right from the start. Other clubs, like Aberdeen, talked about what they wanted to do and, ethically, to be saved by reconstruction isn’t what you would want as a player either.
“How you want to save your skin is by playing but that prospect seems a distance away.
“Maybe there will be a way for the Premiership season to be finished. But, if it’s not to be finished, then what is the next step for the club?
“I know it’s difficult and there are far more important things than football at the moment, but what Hearts fans want right now is clarity and this is probably the first clear decision made in Scottish football for the last two, three, four months.
“The next thing is how do the governing bodies decide what happens going forward.
“I have a football allegiance, I don’t have a political allegiance, but the leadership being shown in the Scottish government is correct and if that means that lives are going to be saved but Hearts are going to be relegated then we’ll have to deal with that.
“Yes, you’re thinking about your own football club but there are far more important things going on in the world right now.”
With reconstruction talks being kiboshed the day after Rangers presented their dossier on the SPFL resolution controversy, and with an EGM to come next week, Mackay insists Scottish football is being made to look ridiculous.
He added: “In Scotland, in football in general, we have become a laughing stock - that’s with Hearts getting relegated or not.
“The toing and froing that’s going on just now isn’t good for anybody.”