Neil Critchley

[boag1874]

For me he’s got us playing far better football than we have in quite some time & that’s enough to trust him imo. Yes there’s been a few stinkers but chalk that up to the balance of the squad ie if Jorge Grant is playing rotten we can’t make a like for like sub, none of the wide players are at the required level (save for Spittal) & prior to signing Kabangu there was nothing up top.

 

It shouldn’t have been this way but unfortunately due to failures in the summer 2024/25 is a transitional season for us. Just get as high up the table as we can, continue to work on getting the squad playing good football & prepare to completely revamp the team this summer.

[Gavman81]

29 minutes ago, Smithian said:

He inherited the worst start in the club's 150+ year history. Club was sitting dead ass last in the league. His best player had forgotten how to play football. Injuries up and down the roster.

Has it been great? No. The Petroclub display was a disgrace. Hibs results bad.

 

But Hearts have gone four unbeaten (should be four wins in a row…) playing plenty of younger players and, even if Europe dream is probably dead, Hearts are more likely to be scraping into the top 6 for the split than be battling relegation. Table is weird, but still closer in points to Fifth then Last.

 

His subs are way too late for me, but I appreciate his tactical flexibility. I believe he wants to pay a bit more direct than Neilson/Naismith trying to make us MK Dons of the north when a small Tynecastle pitch makes it easy for most league opponents to throw slow defenders on the pitch and have them patiently sit back.

 

Off the pitch, I appreciate a manager who is not high with the highs nor low with the lows. And he has seemed to be upbeat when I sort of assume part of his job is deal with a bunch of rot in the dressing room.

 

IMO, he is a good “coach” for what Hearts want to be. Calm down the dressing room, coach up talent, line up to fit your talent, don’t force them into sets and formations where they look lost.

 

I’m not saying “Extend Critchley!” Not close. But at this rate I expect he will be back next season and I’ll have a generally positive vibe about his return.

Good post mate - fair 

[chrisyboy7]

He's a top coach and will be a big success at Hearts.

[tightrope]

8 minutes ago, chrisyboy7 said:

He's a top coach and will be a big success at Hearts.

Yes.

[Chris#9]

Hibs, County and Europe are still massive black marks for me. I dont really see a style of play if im honest. We have one pattern of play down the left. 
 

failing to address what everyone could see v hibs was worrying(3v2 in midfield). Poor subs at times too

 

I think he needs a statement win/performance 

 

 

[TuckerCarlsonsToupee]

I am on board the Critchley train.  He inherited a mess, something was very clearly rotten in the state of Gorgie.  The drop off from last season cannot simply be down to Shankland's goal drought.  That "something" could have been some bad apples in the dressing room, an imbalance in the squad, a lack of quality being exposed by the aforementioned loss of Shankland's goals, a poor pre-season, improvement from other teams, injuries to certain players...or all of those.  Arguably it doesn't matter, things couldn't carry on as they were.

 

In the matches against St Mirren at home and Omonia we played football that was as good as anything I had seen since the Romanov era.  Even in the loss to Kilmarnock at Tynecastle we played some wonderful stuff in the first half before imploding after the break.  Since then there have been good moments in many games, perhaps not enough to win more often, and three absolutely dreadful performances and results (Hibs, Killie, Petrocub).  I know football isn't about "if" but indulge me, what if we hadn't conceded an equaliser at Ross county, what if we had held on for a draw with Hibs, and what if we had beaten Petrocub...just three results would have changed the entire season even before any new additions to the squad.

But we are where we are and I believe that things will improve sufficiently to see us climb the league, I am not sure what success looks like from this point, possibly finishing tenth and not eleventh?  If we could make it to the top six, get to the cup semi final, and beat Hibs twice...that would be success, no?

New players are arriving, identified by a system that reduces the possibility of them not being the "right" players and that should help us to improve.  Right now I am hopeful but realistic...there will be more bad days, there will be more grumbles, but by the seasons end I do believe we will all feel more optimistic about what lies ahead.  Time will tell.

[tartofmidlothian]

I like this interview with him, especially the detail that he got his young lad a Hearts kit and tracksuit for his Christmas.

 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/neil-critchley-reveals-hearts-different-34507164

[Smithian]

45 minutes ago, tartofmidlothian said:

I like this interview with him, especially the detail that he got his young lad a Hearts kit and tracksuit for his Christmas.

 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/neil-critchley-reveals-hearts-different-34507164

I appreciate there wasn't the usual obligatory, "Launching pad for bigger things" comment in there

 

This is a big, hard job. 

[ducatiboy]

I’m very much 50/50 on the new coach so far, I like him he speaks well, is he too nice?  I can’t decide yet. Very much want to see what he can achieve with a better calibre of player at his disposal, defenders-forwards incoming, but I really hope an offensive midfielder is a high priority ( which I’m sure will be ) our lack of creativity in midfield is criminal…

[Disser Pointon]

5 minutes ago, ducatiboy said:

I’m very much 50/50 on the new coach so far, I like him he speaks well, is he too nice?  I can’t decide yet. Very much want to see what he can achieve with a better calibre of player at his disposal, defenders-forwards incoming, but I really hope an offensive midfielder is a high priority ( which I’m sure will be ) our lack of creativity in midfield is criminal…

This is where I am as well, on the fence but he's earned more time with what he's shown so far, a couple of games aside.

[OTT]

9 minutes ago, ducatiboy said:

I’m very much 50/50 on the new coach so far, I like him he speaks well, is he too nice?  I can’t decide yet. Very much want to see what he can achieve with a better calibre of player at his disposal, defenders-forwards incoming, but I really hope an offensive midfielder is a high priority ( which I’m sure will be ) our lack of creativity in midfield is criminal…

 

Yeah, pretty much agree with what you're saying, Also really like him. I think he does "get" the club, he really needs a derby win under his belt and then I think he'll win a lot more confidence from fans more on the fence. Really need to understand what went wrong in the previous two derbies as I don't think we've been the better team either time which isn't great - derbies as we know are very much about fight and wanting it more - Don't think we've fought for it as hard but that is a recurring theme this season, and was a problem before NC came in. I think it will get fixed, but we'll need a bit more player turnover before we're there IMO. 

 

He does seem a bit too nice, but I would say, we started poorly against Brechin, and he was able to send out what felt like a totally different team in the 2nd half. Did he go mental? No idea. But I think in the modern game, the Alex Ferguson approach is how you lose dressing rooms because player power has only grown since then. 

 

Its a shame his family are still down South, hopefully that changes but with how short managerial reigns are in football, I can appreciate it will be more important that his family have roots. 

[ducatiboy]

1 hour ago, OTT said:

 

Yeah, pretty much agree with what you're saying, Also really like him. I think he does "get" the club, he really needs a derby win under his belt and then I think he'll win a lot more confidence from fans more on the fence. Really need to understand what went wrong in the previous two derbies as I don't think we've been the better team either time which isn't great - derbies as we know are very much about fight and wanting it more - Don't think we've fought for it as hard but that is a recurring theme this season, and was a problem before NC came in. I think it will get fixed, but we'll need a bit more player turnover before we're there IMO. 

 

He does seem a bit too nice, but I would say, we started poorly against Brechin, and he was able to send out what felt like a totally different team in the 2nd half. Did he go mental? No idea. But I think in the modern game, the Alex Ferguson approach is how you lose dressing rooms because player power has only grown since then. 

 

Its a shame his family are still down South, hopefully that changes but with how short managerial reigns are in football, I can appreciate it will be more important that his family have roots. 

Very good point regarding the second half improvement, I certainly hope NC is capable of giving it to them when required! 

[Baxfee]

I think he’s a good coach and players will benefit from that. Jury is still out for me regarding the tactical bit. That’s what  wins you games so fingers crossed he has this ‘in his locker’ 

[Dia Liom]

There's been enough of an improvement to be optimistic. But not enough to say that he has done a good job so far. Some atrocious results and performances. And too many games where we should have ended up with more points than we did. I like him as a person.

[Threedoorsdown]

14 hours ago, TuckerCarlsonsToupee said:

I am on board the Critchley train.  He inherited a mess, something was very clearly rotten in the state of Gorgie.  The drop off from last season cannot simply be down to Shankland's goal drought.  That "something" could have been some bad apples in the dressing room, an imbalance in the squad, a lack of quality being exposed by the aforementioned loss of Shankland's goals, a poor pre-season, improvement from other teams, injuries to certain players...or all of those.  Arguably it doesn't matter, things couldn't carry on as they were.

 

In the matches against St Mirren at home and Omonia we played football that was as good as anything I had seen since the Romanov era.  Even in the loss to Kilmarnock at Tynecastle we played some wonderful stuff in the first half before imploding after the break.  Since then there have been good moments in many games, perhaps not enough to win more often, and three absolutely dreadful performances and results (Hibs, Killie, Petrocub).  I know football isn't about "if" but indulge me, what if we hadn't conceded an equaliser at Ross county, what if we had held on for a draw with Hibs, and what if we had beaten Petrocub...just three results would have changed the entire season even before any new additions to the squad.

But we are where we are and I believe that things will improve sufficiently to see us climb the league, I am not sure what success looks like from this point, possibly finishing tenth and not eleventh?  If we could make it to the top six, get to the cup semi final, and beat Hibs twice...that would be success, no?

New players are arriving, identified by a system that reduces the possibility of them not being the "right" players and that should help us to improve.  Right now I am hopeful but realistic...there will be more bad days, there will be more grumbles, but by the seasons end I do believe we will all feel more optimistic about what lies ahead.  Time will tell.

We haven’t played as good football at times since early NC but we are certainly conceding a lot less too.

Edited January 20, 2025 by Threedoorsdown

[Haken]

I think, despite some awful results, Critchley has been a positive change so far.  He's got more out of this squad with a mis-firing Shankland than Naismith did this season.  He's obviously identified one or two who maybe thought all they had to do was turn up for training.  I don't think any of us fully understand precisely what he's having to contend with in terms of what's going on in the background with some players.  Until he manages to assemble a squad he feels he can trust, he'll continue to walk a bit of a tightrope in terms of what he can do and say publicly.

[The Real Maroonblood]

On 19/01/2025 at 10:04, FWJ said:

He always looks quite cheery in interviews.

Maybe that’s how he got the job.

Cheery and a nice guy.

[jambo-in-furness]

He is great at saying what you want to hear, the jury is still out re his coaching skills, I just wish he would drop the “matey matey” names he addresses players, so cringey (rhymes somewhat)

 

what he sees in Forrest is my main concern as his coaching ability.

 

 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

The first and most important job of any manager coming in in the situation he inherited is to turn constant losses into some points and start creeping up the table. Yes, we should be better than this, yes we should be able to expect better than 1.5 ppg, but for now that's been enough to haul us off the bottom and get us within a few points of top six. The compressed lower end of the table and Naismith's unimaginably awful start make our position look worse than it would be otherwise.

 

The job is far from done and we need to keep improving, particularly on scoring goals. We have too  many matches where we're dominant and end up sweating out a 1-0 finale (or where disaster strikes like at County).

 

And FFS man, you don't have to wait until the game's almost over to make subs. You get 5, you know?

 

Now he's getting new players in, and if we get another CH and a winger as is rumored we'll have addressed the biggest need areas. Let's get a nice thumping run of wins for a bit and shake off the torpor of this season.

[Gregorski]

It's a slow burn with Critchley, that's for sure.

 

But, in an odd way, I find that more reassuring than if he had come in and we'd seen a dramatic turnaround in fortunes.

 

He looks like he is trying to build it from the ground up, focusing on a system that relies on the team as a whole and not just individual players like a Shankland or say a Skacel type who would have came in and dug us out of a rut and get us over the line. Not that I wouldn't pass up an inform Shankland or a Skacel in his prime of course.

 

The system will obviously rely on the ability of the individual players to pull it off but hopefully that side of it is well under way also.

[jr ewing]

Experience that none of the recent incumbents have had. 

[vegas-voss]

I would like to see how we get on with him after a proper pre season and his own side.

[the posh bit]

23 hours ago, Chris#9 said:

Hibs, County and Europe are still massive black marks for me. I dont really see a style of play if im honest. We have one pattern of play down the left. 
 

failing to address what everyone could see v hibs was worrying(3v2 in midfield). Poor subs at times too

 

I think he needs a statement win/performance 

 

 

 

Like a convincing win against a fancied opponent in Europe? 

[JJ1984]

1 minute ago, the posh bit said:

 

Like a convincing win against a fancied opponent in Europe? 

We havent beaten anyone we haven't that we haven't been favourites against this season. 

[Chris#9]

4 minutes ago, the posh bit said:

 

Like a convincing win against a fancied opponent in Europe? 

Omonia were garbage and i believe the odds were pretty much even so i wont be counting that

[the posh bit]

4 minutes ago, Chris#9 said:

Omonia were garbage and i believe the odds were pretty much even so i wont be counting that

 

It was still a very good win. Arguably our best result at Tynecastle in Europe this century. 

[Chris#9]

Just now, the posh bit said:

 

It was still a very good win. Arguably our best result at Tynecastle in Europe this century. 

Well we’ll just have to disagree. The fact they weren’t overwhelming favourites to beat bottom of the spfl says alot

 

He’s beat st mirren, omonia, st j(2), dundee, dundee utd, motherwell and brechin. Im going to need alot more than that before i think we’re on the right path

[Watt-Zeefuik]

2 hours ago, Chris#9 said:

Omonia were garbage and i believe the odds were pretty much even so i wont be counting that

 

Unlike us Omonia qualified after beating Rapid Vienna 3-1.

 

Whenever we play well and make other sides look bad folk seem eager to dismiss the opponent as worthless. Maybe we were just good on the day.

[Chris#9]

40 minutes ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

 

Unlike us Omonia qualified after beating Rapid Vienna 3-1.

 

Whenever we play well and make other sides look bad folk seem eager to dismiss the opponent as worthless. Maybe we were just good on the day.

Im not saying we didnt play well that night. Im just saying im yet to be impressed by NC and think he is a manager that can take us places. Were we not 99% to qualify after that game?
 

i hope he changes that but his tactics/subs in games mentioned above have cost us

[Byyy The Light]

20 hours ago, Baxfee said:

I think he’s a good coach and players will benefit from that. Jury is still out for me regarding the tactical bit. That’s what  wins you games so fingers crossed he has this ‘in his locker’ 

This stuff always makes me laugh. A guy who’s been working in football for couple of decades under guys like Klopp, taken elite level courses and the fans think they are better tactically than him 😂

[Absolute Scenes]

10 hours ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

 

Unlike us Omonia qualified after beating Rapid Vienna 3-1.

 

Whenever we play well and make other sides look bad folk seem eager to dismiss the opponent as worthless. Maybe we were just good on the day.

Exactly this 

 

it was a superb result for us, regardless of how good or bad Omonia were that night. 

[Haken]

So, success will be judged when he beats someone we're not expected to beat?  Tough gig.

[gordiegords]

As a guy I like him, seems really sound, that’s irrelevant though really, I have seen some signs of progress and our overall style of play, would like to give him time and a proper pre season with his own players and see what we can do, that week though with the derby Europe and Kilmarnock was a massive disappointment, the Killie game playing out with no subs or late subs baffled me, so there is some decisions that I’m not sure about at all but on whole happy to give him time and on board for now! If it not for brain farts we would be 5 in 5. 

[pettigrewsstylist]

On 19/01/2025 at 20:13, Chris#9 said:

Hibs, County and Europe are still massive black marks for me. I dont really see a style of play if im honest. We have one pattern of play down the left. 
 

failing to address what everyone could see v hibs was worrying(3v2 in midfield). Poor subs at times too

 

I think he needs a statement win/performance 

 

 

Tend to agree and would add Bruges to the list.

[The Real Maroonblood]

1 hour ago, Byyy The Light said:

This stuff always makes me laugh. A guy who’s been working in football for couple of decades under guys like Klopp, taken elite level courses and the fans think they are better tactically than him 😂

He’s got quite a poor record.

If he was any good he’d be at a top club and not at Hearts.

Like an English championship team.

Edited January 21, 2025 by The Real Maroonblood

[Ron Burgundy]

13 hours ago, Chris#9 said:

Well we’ll just have to disagree. The fact they weren’t overwhelming favourites to beat bottom of the spfl says alot

 

He’s beat st mirren, omonia, st j(2), dundee, dundee utd, motherwell and brechin. Im going to need alot more than that before i think we’re on the right path

Agree. The Hibs game totally floored me. Beaten without so much as a whimper by an absolutely garbage side who just wanted it more. That cannot happen again in a derby.

 

[A_A wehatethehibs]

6 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

He’s got quite a poor record.

If he was any good he’d be at a top club and not at Hearts.

Like an English championship team.

His record is half decent actually,  when you look at the specifics, rather than the low IQ “he’s been sacked twice 🥴” view.

[tartofmidlothian]

6 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Agree. The Hibs game totally floored me. Beaten without so much as a whimper by an absolutely garbage side who just wanted it more. That cannot happen again in a derby.

 

 

It's happened more than a couple of times in the past, this one could have been just a blip. (not saying you're wrong btw)

[The Real Maroonblood]

4 minutes ago, A_A wehatethehibs said:

His record is half decent actually,  when you look at the specifics, rather than the low IQ “he’s been sacked twice 🥴” view.

Not convinced yet with him..

Early doors so we’ll see what happens.

Glass always half full except when it comes to Heats.

Disappointments just round the corner.

[Gerry1874]

He's made us hard to beat and we look like we will now avoid the doomsday scenario of relegation. He has improved players the obvious one being Devlin and has done well bedding in Wilson as a first team regular. 

 

He inherited and absolute mess so it will become more apparent after the summer when he has had a proper rebuild and preseason how good he will be for us. January window is more of a sticking plaster I feel.

[Byyy The Light]

32 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

He’s got quite a poor record.

If he was any good he’d be at a top club and not at Hearts.

Like an English championship team.

 

It's fine to have doubts.  There's a hell of a lot more to being a successful head coach/manager than tactical knowledge.  Leadership, communication, motivation and people skills being the biggest.  You don't hear players going on about how blown away they were by Alex Ferguson's tactical tweaks.

 

I was referring to the fact that fans like to think they are tactically superior to someone like Critchley.  He'd absolutely school them every day in that department.

 

 

 

[Jim Panzee]

14 hours ago, JJ1984 said:

We havent beaten anyone we haven't that we haven't been favourites against this season. 

that's easy for you to say.....

[Debut 4]

2 hours ago, Byyy The Light said:

This stuff always makes me laugh. A guy who’s been working in football for couple of decades under guys like Klopp, taken elite level courses and the fans think they are better tactically than him 😂

There is many sides to it though.
 

Personality, motivation, charisma , seeing the flaws, improving them and enhancing on the good things. 
 

There’s loads of coaches in football who will never be a manager because it’s not been their natural path, they don’t want to be a manager or not cut out for it.  But they’ll be good coaches all the same. 
 

Some like Cathro get tempted into it and get found out but he still knows the game and will still work in football as he’s done. 
 

This isn’t a veiled dig at NC btw as I , like many, would like to see him given time from a clean slate season. But I do agree with some we’ve yet to see his character fully as a manager.  But that will only come if he’s given the time, as said.  

[gregzy2k7]

I like the guy,  but just out of curiosity, If we were to finish 10th this season and just avoid the play off, do we keep him ? Or are we expecting better than that? I think for me we should be finishing minimum 7th with our squad for him to remain in charge next season imo.

 

Ideally we should be in the top 6 tbh but if we narrowly missed out, I would be willing to back him into next season as long as we see a consistent upturn in performances.

[pettigrewsstylist]

1 hour ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Agree. The Hibs game totally floored me. Beaten without so much as a whimper by an absolutely garbage side who just wanted it more. That cannot happen again in a derby.

 

Getting beat wasnt the main issue for me. That 1st half was an abhorrent nonsense on several/many levels. Coming so soon after the Petrocub farce......jury remains out. 

We have definitely found some fighting spirit recently but praying Spittal and Penrice remain fit at mo.

Our  current midfield and right hand side remain barriers to significant progression.

[jock _turd]

On 20/01/2025 at 10:53, Disser Pointon said:

This is where I am as well, on the fence but he's earned more time with what he's shown so far, a couple of games aside.

Can I ask what you did expect the new manager to be able to do with the players he was left by his predecessor? The man who signed the new players into the squad could not even get a win out of them! I honestly think that many of the posters who frequent this forum are delusional in the extreme. We are where we are because of NC ?  Really ? Well I will agree to the extent that had he not turned as completely around we would be well adrift at the bottom right now. Our form under him had been well better than average. He has taken a team that had not won a game and was sat firmly on the bottom of the table to a position where they are six points off fourth place and have not lost in the last 6 games. What were you expecting him to have done by now with the players currently available?

[Ricardo Quaresma]

48 minutes ago, Byyy The Light said:

 

It's fine to have doubts.  There's a hell of a lot more to being a successful head coach/manager than tactical knowledge.  Leadership, communication, motivation and people skills being the biggest.  You don't hear players going on about how blown away they were by Alex Ferguson's tactical tweaks.

 

I was referring to the fact that fans like to think they are tactically superior to someone like Critchley.  He'd absolutely school them every day in that department.

 

 

 

 

You'd have to be in a position to know that nc is a better tactician than all of our Fans, but you aren't though

 

You make a lot of assumptions, like they'd all want to be Manager of Hearts or Manage at any club

 

You'd have to know all their capabilities as well as nc's capabilities, but you don't

 

 

There's Fans of our Club that probably have IQs of 165 and above; yet they couldn't school Critchley?

 

They can't be arsed with Football Management, doesn't mean absolutely every Hearts Fan is automatically rubbish at tactics, which is exactly what you're assuming

 

nc hasn't been doing Football tactics for very long and he thoroughly demonstrated that against our next opponents at the same venue that's coming up next and at their place with 10 men for 88 minutes; laughable really

 

Now, let's see if we've got enough to beat deek & killie, something that that Robbie latterly done quite well at, except the 'snoddy' series and I believe deek only got a point from Naisy when refs ignore penalty shouts or dead rubbers, 2 draws deek got, the rest gubbed

[Gerry1874]

15 hours ago, JJ1984 said:

We havent beaten anyone we haven't that we haven't been favourites against this season. 

We weren't beating anyone prior to his appointment so surely that's an improvement?

[Ricardo Quaresma]

5 minutes ago, Gerry1874 said:

We weren't beating anyone prior to his appointment so surely that's an improvement?

 

Not enough of an improvement though is it?

 

 

Andrew said we're going to be 4th or 5th; it's  got to be better, no?

[Gerry1874]

22 minutes ago, Ricardo Quaresma said:

 

Not enough of an improvement though is it?

 

 

Andrew said we're going to be 4th or 5th; it's  got to be better, no?

I'm basing him on where we finish next season. He inherited a mess left by his predecessor with Aberdeen and Dundee utd already having a huge headstart. If we get top 6 this season which is realistic then 3rd needs to be the minimum expectation next year.