Mackay grip on football just as firm.

There's no pining beside the pyramids

Brian Meek

14 Jul 1993

THE legend lives on in a photograph.

If every picture tells a story, this one on the right speaks volumes about Dave Mackay.

He has Billy Bremner by the scruff of his jersey and he is telling him not to do that again -- or words to that effect.

Quarter of a century later the incident is still fresh in his mind.

"I was annoyed with Billy.

I had just come back to playing after two leg breaks and was being a bit careful.

He got a foul after I gave him a little push -- fair enough -- then he kicked me on the back of my leg."

Not a lot of people tried that.

Dave Mackay was the anchor of a great Hearts side, a pillar at Tottenham Hotspur, an inspiration at Derby County, a player who epitomised the best in Scottish skill and determination.

He was hard, but he was fair, and nothing has changed.

We met, quite by accident, at Musselburgh races; in one of those extraordinary coincidences "Wee" Willie Henderson and Jim Baxter popped up as well.

I was half expecting Gordon Smith to materialise on the right wing.

Dave is 58, the thatch silver, but he still stands out in a crowd.

There was animated talk in Edinburgh, after one of our more famous exiles dispensed with the services of Joe Jordan, that Mackay might be the man to step into the breach at Tynecastle.

Wherever Dave is in the world, the Hearts result is the first one he wants to know.

Mackay has heard all the speculation.

He smiles.

"Both my favourite teams, Hearts and Spurs, have their problems off the field right now.

All I can say is that you cannot build a good side unless the money is there.

Reputation does not guarantee success."

Anyway, he has a job.

His managerial career has spread from Swindon to Nottingham Forest, to Derby, guiding County to a league championship, to Walsall, to Kuwait, to Dubai, to Doncaster, to Birmingham and lately to Cairo.

He has just signed a further two-year contract to stay in charge of Sporting Club Zamalec, the Egyptian champions two years in a row.

"I like the lifestyle out there -- I now do a first-class tour of the Pyramids for visitors from home.

The games between my team and their rivals Al Ahly attract crowds of 60,000 and make Old Firm matches seem like a picnic."

Here is a statistic to make British clubs eat their hearts out -- Zamalec has 90,000 paid up members.

They own two huge gymnasiums and field teams in volleyball and handball as well.

There is only one shape of ball interests Mackay; he bubbles with enthusiasm about the game in the same way as he did as a teenager.

"When I was a kid, I dreamt about playing for Hearts.

I had 20 years as a player and have now had the same period as a coach or manager.

I would not change my life for anyone.

"The British brought football to Egypt -- men like Bill Nicholson, Johnny Harvey, and Stanley Matthews all spent time there in the forces, so they had some great teachers.

What I like about it is that the kids still play in the streets.

"I want my team to play with the ball on the ground, the way we used to do it."

He is determined not to sound like the old soldier, the player who improves with every year he sits in the stand.

For that reason, he is careful to praise the commitment of the modern footballer.

Yet, in his heart, he cannot think other than that they enjoy it less than he did and that the entertainment value has been reduced.

"The pace of the British game is too fast.

We breed a lot of good athletes, but where has the skill gone?" Dave Mackay wants to look forward, not back.

His team are in the last eight of the African Cup, a continent-wide competition.

He is also out to avenge a 2-1 defeat by Al Ahly in the Egyptian Cup final.

"I have some talented lads.

They are maybe not quite as good as they think they are, but I cut them down to size." You somehow knew he would.

His father Tommy keeps him appraised of the local developments and there will be no keener observer of the situation at Tynecastle.

It would appear that Hearts have missed an opportunity to make an appointment that would have been hugely popular with their fans.

Still, until events unfold completely, it would be wise never to say never.

"I can't come back here," insists the legend, "I have already put on a stone in weight by eating all these rolls."

Taken from the Herald