St Johnstone raise a glass and a shirt as Mackay takes his exit
A TOUCHING tribute from comforting colleagues and words of encouragement from the Scotland manager ensured that a player sitting in the stand at McDiarmid Park stole the show for St Johnstone on Saturday.
Striker Graham Cummins was the on-field hero for the Perth outfit, with his stabbed 58th-minute winner earning them a victory that took them level on points with Hearts in second and denied their visitors the chance of the victory they needed to assume top spot.
However, the spotlight fell firmly on Dave Mackay, thanks to the emotional celebration sparked by Cummins’ strike. Mackay announced last week he had been forced to hang up his boots because of a troublesome hip injury, sparking a wave of warmth for an extremely popular figure, not only at St Johnstone but throughout Scottish football.
The 36-year-old’s No.2 jersey had been planted behind the Hearts goal, in the hope it could be used to salute the 2014 Scottish Cup-winning captain, and the player himself was pleasantly surprised to see his now former teammates holding aloft his strip in the wake of the game’s deciding moment.
“It was a nice wee touch from them,” said Mackay, who is now eyeing a coaching career. “I don’t know who planned it, but I appreciated it. That’s what you expect from them, that’s the type of boys we’ve got in there. We’re all pretty close and we’re good mates.
“It was a little bit emotional. I’m not an emotional kind of person and I didn’t expect it so I didn’t get time to think about it.”
He also received praise from Gordon Strachan, who was at McDiarmid Park keeping an eye on Hearts trio Callum Paterson, Tony Watt and Jack Hamilton – and possibly others.
“That was great,” added Mackay, who said he could have made a comeback potentially, but harboured concerns over the long-term impact if he had returned. “He does not have to do anything like that, to someone like myself, but I appreciate that. He just had a quick word, said he was sorry to hear that I was having to retire and that I had been a good ambassador for the club.”
On the pitch, the hosts had goalkeeper Zander Clark to thank for the victory. The 24-year-old has now made eight Premiership outings for the Perth outfit, with eight wins.
With Alan Mannus sitting on the bench, Tommy Wright has talked of having “two No.1s”, but Clark has designs on holding down a regular spot.
“That’s my aim,” Clark said. “Go out and do as well as I can, and at least give the manager a wee bit of a thought over whether to keep me in or not.”