Since moving to Tynecastle in October, the Jambos boss has failed to defeat Aberdeen, Celtic, Hibs, or Rangers; yet, he is certain that defeating the Dons at Hampden will silence his detractors.
Ahead of this weekend’s meeting against Aberdeen at Hampden, Hearts manager Neil Critchley is determined to prove his detractors’ belief that he cannot win important games.
Supporters have criticised the Englishman for not securing a spot in the top six last weekend. He took over for Steven Naismith in October when the Jambos were two points behind at the bottom of the Premiership.
His failure to defeat teams like Rangers, Celtic, Hibernian, or the Dons, whom they play in Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final, has been questioned by many.
When asked how he feels about the growing narrative that he can’t deliver a “statement win” when it counts, Critchley emphasised that such conclusions shouldn’t be made so quickly.
“Does it bother me? No, not really,” he said. “Is it fair? Well, you could say that because there’s evidence of that. But I say it’s a small sample size, I’ve only been here six months.
“If we’re still talking like this after another lengthier period of time… The team’s evolving, we have to keep moving forward, we have to keep showing progression.
“I believe we have and we’re moving in the right direction. If we keep doing that, then I firmly believe that the results in some of those games that you’re probably alluding to will be different.”
Although disappointed at missing out on the top six, Critchley pointed out that Hearts’ points return since he took charge is among the best in the Premiership.
Only Celtic, Rangers and Hibernian – the current top three – have collected more points than the 38 the Tynecastle side have taken in that 25-game period.
“We had two points after eight games,” he said. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve accumulated a lot of points. You could say in points per game, we’d be comfortably in the top six if I was here all season. But I wasn’t and the reason I am is because of what happened (at the start of the season).
“I can only deal with the here and now and the group that’s in front of me, and I think we’ve shown progress. The next step is for us to go and take a big step forward on Saturday and progress to the final.”
Asked if he felt his Hearts team had the character to pull off the elusive statement win, Critchley said: “I believe they do. We’ve shown character in several of games this season where we’ve been in sticky circumstances, either coming from behind or teams equalising against us and we have to go again.
“I’m not concerned about the group, their devotion, or their honesty. Not taking chances is the main reason we have failed in many of the games this season.
Character has nothing to do with that. That ultimately depends on our level of quality and poise as well as how we make decisions in light of the objective.
