Gary Mackay: First thing you do if you pull on a Hearts jersey is compete for that badge

Being competitive as a team is a basic requirement so I can't understand recent comments

Hearts teams should always be competitive, says Gary Mackay

I really am absolutely gobsmacked nobody has commented on this issue about Hearts being more competitive. Surely this is a prerequisite for playing at Tynecastle?

The party line after the Rangers game was that the team would be set out to battle and compete more.

Am I missing something? Or is this the apathy and acceptance that Hearts supporters have right now, that we can be fooled by these words?

Is being competive not what you do when you play five-a-sides, or amateur football, or junior football, or professional football? It’s an absolute given that you compete.

I don’t know where this is coming from. We are going to change things now because we are going to get a team that competes? I’m not buying into that.

Every week, if you pull on a maroon jersey with that crest on it, the first thing you should be doing is competing for that badge. There should not need to be changes made to get a team that will compete for the badge. Everybody should be fighting for it.

It’s an issue which is probably more prevalent at this time of year. The service which will take place at Haymarket on November 10 is all about the history of our football club along with others.

Even when I watched poor Hearts teams during the mid-to-late 1970s, the guys you stood by were the Drew Busbys of this world. They gave it their best shot all the time and that was a given.

Now we have this apathy setting in among the fans and it is concerning. That has been brought about by results and performances this season and it is showing in different areas

Hearts and Hibs got their Betfred Cup semi-final ticket allocations cut because they couldn’t sell them all. The appetite wasn’t there and that’s a reflection of their respective league form at the moment.

It’s understandable fans are reluctant to go to games against Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow when their teams couldn’t beat Ross County or Livingston at the weekend.