Gary Mackay: Underwhelming display was anti-climax for stand

After all the excitement about getting our new stand ready in time to stage yesterday's game against Partick Thistle on, the action itself was an anti-climax as Hearts turned in another underwhelming performance.
The new main stand at Tynecastle ahead of yesterday's game. Pic: SNSThe new main stand at Tynecastle ahead of yesterday's game. Pic: SNS
The new main stand at Tynecastle ahead of yesterday's game. Pic: SNS

We currently have ourselves a high-class stadium and a hugely devoted fanbase but unfortunately it is clear our team is not yet of a standard to hit the heights our supporters expect.

Up against a limited Partick side, we should have had enough about us to close out victory, but it was quite dispiriting that we weren’t able to do that on such a momentous day. We are going to need to find some improvement in the weeks and months ahead if we wish to fill our wonderful new-look stadium on a regular basis.

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I’ve been disappointed to see the club getting criticised in some quarters for the time it took to open the stand. When building a structure of this magnitude, there is always the possibility it will run over an original timeframe. Hearts have dealt with every situation that has arisen and had contingency plans in place for every game they couldn’t stage at Tynecastle.

I’ve got slight sympathy for Partick about the uncertainty in the build-up to yesterday’s game, but I don’t think they needed to issue a statement about it. That was a bit uncalled for.

Hearts have been open and honest about the situation all week, and ultimately they managed to get the game on, as they had indicated they would. Both teams were in the same boat about not knowing for certain whether it would go ahead. Yes, it wasn’t ideal for supporters of both teams that it wasn’t confirmed until Saturday night. But such a situation shouldn’t have been a big deal for players of either team - they should have just been preparing as if it was going to go ahead unless told otherwise.

The redevelopment of Tynecastle has caused nobody any major problems except Hearts because we have been unable to play at home until yesterday.

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Hopefully, now that we’re back in Gorgie, we will start seeing an upturn in the weeks and months ahead, although yesterday was something of a false start. It reminded us that, for all the impressive work being done to the stadium, our team is still in need of a good bit of work.