Gary Mackay: Keep Peter Haring – he understands what playing for Hearts means

Peter Haring is one of those players you need at every club and I’m delighted to see Hearts offering him a new contract.

Like many supporters, I really hope the negotiations reach a positive conclusion. He might be a foreigner but there is no doubt he gets what it means to pull on that maroon shirt. His dedication to the cause is admirable and I thought his performance against Hibs on Saturday summed that up.

Haring doesn’t always catch they eye but the way he drives the Hearts midfield on is magnificent. He was actually the one running in to press some of the Hibs players in their half late in the game at Hampden. It was brilliant to watch for anybody who noticed it.

I thought, as the holding midfield player, Peter showed a real drive and desire to lead by example. There were a lot of good performances from Hearts players but, having played in that area of the pitch myself, I thought Peter did extremely well.

Peter Haring slides in with Joe Newell in the challenge which saw the Hibs midfielder sent off.

He was dealing with the fact Andy Halliday had to go off with an injury, Aaron McEneff came on and then Cammy Devlin was introduced late on. The changes round about Haring in a really important area didn’t deter him. He kept at it and kept at it and I was really impressed with him overall.

People talk about what Hearts are as a football club. Peter is another one who gets it. Even though he maybe isn’t as outwardly flamboyant towards supporters as maybe one or two other players, you can tell he understands what playing for Hearts is about.

There is no doubt reinforcements are needed and Hearts will be looking to unearth one or two diamonds for next season. If you manage to get players in like Barrie McKay and people of that quality, then it can only help the continuing evolvement of the club.

But I really hope they managed to keep hold of Haring and get him tied down for the next few years. He has seen some difficult times with Hearts but now the future looks a lot brighter.

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