Gary Mackay: Hearts academy is not producing enough quality for the facilities and investment

It is notable that Hearts' starting line-up in the last two matches hasn't included any young academy graduates.

Craig Gordon, Christophe Berra and Jamie Walker came through the youth ranks but it’s a while since they could be termed ‘emerging youngsters’.

Robbie Neilson is a realist and I'm prepared to back his judgment on this. He was a realist as a player and knew how far he could go with his own ability, and he knew the levels of the players around him. He brings the same approach to management.

There is no way Robbie will throw young players into the first team in an effort to make the academy look good when it hasn't been good enough. That would be unrealistic because it fills supporters' minds with an optimism which really shouldn't be there.

The indoor pitch at Oriam is one of the best facilities in Scotland.

I think what we will see during Robbie's tenure is that any players who come into the first team will be there because he genuinely feels they are able to manage first-team football.

What happened previously, in my eyes, was that we threw young players in who either weren't physically or mentally ready to play for a club of Hearts' stature – particularly in the top flight.

Unfortunately, one or two of these boys have had their careers put back by a few years because so much was asked of them. It's a real shame. We have to think about those individuals.

When you are put into the team so early, your mentality as well as your physicality have to be managed properly. I'm not sure that happened. One or two who played more games than others are now further back in the queue.

I think we just have to bite the bullet on this subject. If Robbie Neilson doesn't think any of the youngsters are ready for the first team, that's because our academy continues not producing the players it should given the facilities available.

People can make all the excuses they want, arguing it's different for kids now because of computers and other interests in life.

The facilities at Riccarton have been over-documented and we are turning out nothing like what we should be – pound for pound – in relation to those facilities and the budget.

Sandy Clark's youth team back in the 1990s had Gary Locke, Allan McManus, Paul Ritchie, Allan Johnston, David Murie, Grant Murray and Kevin Thomas.

They trained in the afternoon and didn't have plush indoor facilities like Hearts have at their academy now. If it was pouring with rain or blowing a gale, they trained every afternoon at Roseburn Park. It didn't do them any harm.

Somewhere along the line, there is unfortunately an imbalance. The facilities and financial input don't equate to the output. If Robbie doesn't feel the players are ready or good enough, I'm prepared to trust him.

He has a vested interest because he wants the best players for Hearts, but ultimately he wants the best team. If that means we don't have any academy graduates in our first team, that's because he deems them not good enough at the present time.

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