Neil Critchley has watched Celtic and Rangers dominate Scottish football for the past four decades.
But the new Hearts boss insists the gap between the Old Firm and the rest is NOT insurmountable. The Englishman will take charge of his first game as Jambos boss against St Mirren tomorrow and reckons a new way of thinking allied to the tie in with Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics offers a chance to bridge the chasm to the top two. That might be some way down the road with Critchley’s priority right now to get a first win of the Premiership season on the board at the ninth time of trying tomorrow.
But he knows long term the targets will be at the top end of the table and not the bottom. The Jambos finished best of the rest last season but still 17 points behind Rangers in second and a massive 25 off champions Celtic. And Critchley said: “It’s always something to whet your appetite. Everyone knows the top two are the dominant. They have been for a number of years.
“But, at some point, why can’t that gap be bridged? It’s not insurmountable. To do that, though, you have to think differently first. So maybe this is a different type of appointment. I think that shows you maybe the direction the club wants to go into. And with a different type of thinking and what we might be able to achieve in terms of recruitment then who knows what might happen in the future?”
Former Blackpool and QPR boss Critchley’s appointment was met with negativity from large swathes of the Jambos support. Sacked from his last two jobs the Gorgie faithful have questioned his credentials. Particularly given he lasted less than four months and just 12 games at QPR where he won just once.
But he said: “QPR… you talk about your first 100 days at a job and I was less than that. So sometimes you know the decisions that you need to make but you need to get the time to make them. And I didn’t.
“The club continued losing after I left. I still think they’re third from bottom now in the Championship. So it’s still not right. I’m not foolish, I know you have to get results, particularly here. You’ve got to win games of football. If I can do that, then I’m really excited with the conditions and the people and the support I’ll get, what we can achieve in the future.”
Sandwiched in between tomorrow’s dug out debut at Tynecastle and a trip across Edinburgh for the first derby of the season eight days later comes a Conference League clash at home to Omonia Nicosia next Thursday. It’ll be a European debut for Critchley. But having been handed the reins with three points already on the Euro board he is targeting progress to the knockout stages.
The former Liverpool academy coach said: “At Liverpool we played in the UEFA Youth League which was an Under-19 tournament all over Europe and I know this is on a different scale, but playing in Europe is different. Whether that’s the interpretation of the rules from the referees or the opposition that you play against and from watching the first game the week before, it’s a different type of game.
“We had a good first win and our aim is to try and progress out of there, to get as far as we can in this competition. We played 59 games (at Blackpool) last season so I’m used to preparing, recovering, preparing, how to manage the squad during the course of the season.
“We had some of the young players training with us this week and because of my background, I believe in young players and giving them opportunities. They have to earn it, it’s not just giving to them, it’s not a charity, but I think we all love our own players coming through our academy and seeing them out there on the pitch.
Tynecastle CEO Andrew McKinlay said the data showed Critchley’s record of improving players was up there with the best. And the new boss said: “That’s my strength, that’s what I love doing, that’s my passion. Helping players to improve, that ultimately helps the team improve.
“If they know how they fit into how we want to play, then you get better commitment and buy in from them. I think that’s my strength, that’s what I love doing. It’s going to be a little bit restricted because of the games, so you’re not going to get loads of time on the training pitch in between games. But you have to use the time that you’ve got to the maximum. That’s what I tend to do.”