Jorge Grant hopes Neil Critchley’s interest in taking him to the seaside three years ago will help him make waves at Hearts beyond the summer. The midfielder is in the final year of his contract at Tynecastle but keen to extend his stay with his family settled in the capital.
Grant held talks with Critchley in 2021 when the manager was with Blackpool and he was playing for Lincoln City before the playmaker opted to sign for Peterborough instead. But now the two are united in Gorgie the playmaker hopes Critchley is still a fan. The 29-year-old has made five substitute appearances in the new Jambos’ manager’s seven games in charge.
And asked if he’s been given any indication of whether the manager sees him in his long term plans, Grant said: “No, that’s not been discussed. I don’t think that will be discussed until the club’s ready to tell me whether they’re going to give me a new one or not.
“I’ve just got to keep working hard, try and get back in the team and prove that I’m good enough to be here. I’d like to stay. I really enjoy being here. My family’s here, so I would like to stay. But that’s not down to me. I need to prove myself on the pitch and improve and get in the team.
“Obviously, I haven’t started a game since he’s come in. He’s told me what he wants from me coming off the bench. So, I’ve just got to try and do that and then get in the team and push on from there.
“I actually spoke to him before I joined Peterborough when he was Blackpool manager. So, I knew him from before. That was when Blackpool got promoted to the Championship, but it just didn’t happen and I went to Peterborough in the end. He obviously tried to sign me before so, yes, it’s obviously a good thing and hopefully I can just get back in the team and improve.”
After cramming seven games into his first 26 days at Hearts, Critchley is finally getting valuable time on the training pitch with the majority his squad during the international break.
The new boss has picked up seven points from his five league games. But Hearts remain second bottom of the Premiership while they’ve made a strong start to the Europa Conference League with six points from their opening three games. There were signs in the second half of Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox that the Jambos are getting to grips with Critchley’s front foot demands though.
And Grant said: “We’re seeing improvements week in, week out. Each game comes and we’re improving. So, hopefully, the points will come. We’re going into every game to win.
“It’s sometimes difficult when there’s loads of games to get loads of information in. We’re building up on the information and the things he wants from us on the pitch. We’re starting to show signs of that being implemented. We’ve improved under the new manager. I think you can see that, especially when we are on the front foot.”