No honeymoon period, straight to getting the house in order. That’s how it might feel for Neil Critchley.
His marriage to Hearts is one made in analytics and fans weren’t exactly lining up to catch the bouquet when the former Blackpool and QPR boss tied the knot earlier this week. Tony Bloom wasn’t exactly standing behind them with a shotgun, but his Starlizard algorithm ranked Critchley as the preferred suitor according to Andrew McKinlay, and the Tynecastle CEO confirmed the union on Tuesday, insisting on his own excitement and that most of the reaction he had seen “since” was positive.
A willingness to get behind the new guy and see how it goes has emerged since it became clear neither party was getting cold feet. But neither could have been blamed for leaving the other at the altar after seeing the initial response when Per Mathias Hogmo stood Hearts up they moved on to Critchley being the one after dumping Steven Naismith.
St Mirren are the first visitors Critchley will receive in his new Gorgie home and they won’t be bearing gifts or wishing him the best of luck. There’s a list of task that the new boss will have to complete to fans’ satisfaction, and quickly. If he doesn’t, then this could be heading for divorce rather than happily ever after.
Record Sport looks at what he needs to make happen sooner rather than later.
Win game
Sounds simple, but Hearts haven’t managed domestically this season. They probably should have at Aberdeen, but a quick-fire Nicky Devlin equaliser and Jorge Grant red card paved the way for a late Dons winner despite what was arguably the Jambos best performance of the season so far.
Prior to that, the closest they’ve come was an opening day 0-0 draw at home Rangers. They played well and offered no clue as to the nightmare that was to follow. A return to that sort of football would be a start, but the performance is starting to matter less so than the result now. We’re not too far off November and the longer a winless run goes, the harder it is to break. Just ask Steve Clarke.
Get Lawrence Shankland firing again
The argument that Hearts were over-reliant on Shankland last season carries even more weight this term. The skipper dug them out of a few holes with his goals, racking up 31 in total and that was after a slow start to the 2023/24 campaign. by comparison, he’s been standing still this season with just one, with displays not exactly offering hope that the goals will start flowing.
Confidence is shot throughout the squad and Critchley will have to rebuild it. Getting Shanland doing what he was doing last previously might just take him netting in a win, rather than a last gasp header to rescue a point at home to Ross County. If the slump continues though, then Critchley doesn’t exactly have much in the way of alternatives
Don’t lose the derby
Hearts managers who don’t win derbies see their credit dwindle swiftly. Those who lose them especially the first one, don’t tend to stick around for the long term. Naismith was in charge as a lengthy unbeaten run came to an end and managed just one victory against Hibs. The rest were draws, although squandering a two-goal lead at Tynecastle did not help his cause.
The roof won’t cave in if Critchley doesn’t win in Leith a week on Sunday. But the Hibees’ own poor start to the season has been overshadowed by just how bad their neighbours have been. He’ll be even more up against it if he loses and a convincing defeat would make things extremely rocky. Luckily for Hearts, those have been very rare, and there would be no better game to secure a statement result in.
Get off the bottom
Seems simple, but then did winning. That will have to happen first and it could be this weekend. Like winless runs, sitting at the foot of the table for too long can have an adverse effect, especially on a team that isn’t used to it. This isn’t a squad that was built was a relegation scrap, especially with a hectic European schedule thrown into the mix.
Few expect Hearts to still be propping the rest up for too long, But the same was thought back in 2019/20 when they were still the basement outfit in March when the campaign was cut short. That isn’t going to happen again, but backsides still need to be shifted into gear.
Compete in Europe
The last time Hearts were in the Conference League group stage, they won the two games they were supposed to and were levels off Fiorentina and Istanbul Basaksehir in the others. PAOK were two strong last season, but the new format offers a realistic chance of making the playoff round for a shot at the last 16.
Beating Dinamo Minsk was a good start. Omonia at home next is winnable, but then a run of Bundesliga outfit Heidenheim at Tynecastle then trips to Cercle Brugge and FC Copenhagen is when things get tricker. However, finishing on home turf against Petroclub could be a real opportunity if they can pick up points in between. However, Critchley has zero European experience and writing this campaign off as a learning curve or a bonus while prioritising the league won’t wash with fans.