Crisis? Bullish Hearts nowhere near panic button as confidence levels remain high - 'our form has been good'

Earlier in the week, Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay refused to entertain the R-word - relegation - despite the Jambos being two points adrift at the foot of the Premiership table. McKinlay still has the top six in his sights, and while Critchley didn’t go quite that far, the Jambos boss firmly believes the only way is up.

“Crisis” was a word put to Critchley in his pre-match media briefing ahead of Hearts’ home game with Dundee on Saturday. The club has only won two league games this season, after all, and has slipped alarmingly from last season’s third-placed finish. “Oh no, we're not even halfway through the season,” Critchley retorted.

The 46-year-old continued: “You [the media] like to use those words, it's a crisis. I'm just focusing on the next game. I think since we joined the club in the past two months, we've had improvement in terms of our performances and now we've got a period of games coming up that we need to start putting some Ws on the board. An important period, both domestically and in Europe. We have a chance to build and things could look significantly different in a few weeks time.”

Critchley is entirely accurate in what he says. Hearts have shown spells of really nice football in their five-match winless streak which includes two games against the Old Firm, matches against Bundesliga cracks Heidenheim and cash-rich Belgians Cercle Brugge as well as in-form Aberdeen. The clash against the Dons brought about a 1-1 draw to snap a four-game losing sequence.

The fixture list for December looks kinder - certainly domestically - although Critchley was also right to note that “football is not played on paper”. All of their opponents for the rest of 2024 are in the bottom half of the table. After hosting Dundee, there is a trip to Kilmarnock, then home games against St Johnstone and Hibs followed by a journey north to Ross County. The ground is far more fertile for Hearts after a rough November.

With 11th-placed Hibs the closest team to them and facing a daunting trip to Celtic Park on Saturday, Hearts could reel them or tenth-placed Kilmarnock in, who are three points ahead and at Dundee United, with a win over Dundee, who themselves are only nine points ahead in seventh. It is congested at the bottom, but Critchley is not taking much notice of where Hearts find themselves in the league right now.

“Honestly I don't look at the table because I can't affect the table,” he continued. “I can affect how the players train, how we prepare, improving the individuals, improving the team and if we do that then the results will take care of itself and ultimately then the league will take care of itself.”

Goals continue to be Hearts’ problem. Striker Lawrence Shankland’s woes have been well documented but there needs to be more toughness at the back. Hearts have only kept three clean sheets all season, and will be without experienced defender Stephen Kingsley for most of the campaign after tearing his hamstring last weekend.

“I've sat here in my first interview with all of you guys and I said that the rules of football don't change,” said Critchley. “They've been the same since the game was invented. It's about scoring at one end and keeping the ball at the other end. You can do what you want in the middle bit and unfortunately we haven't done that well enough, particularly at the attacking end. We've shown signs of improvement and we've created chances but it's up to us to take those chances.

“If we do and if we can, I think that will give everyone a lift and build some confidence and belief and I think that will make a big difference to the group.”

Critchley maintains that the recent run has not sapped the players’ morale, explaining that the opposite has occurred. “No, not at all,” when asked if there has been a dip. “Our form has been good. We've played well in the games. We've actually drawn confidence and been buoyed by how we've played. I say we just missed the last little bit, that is it.

“We should have beaten Aberdeen last weekend, we were the better team. We should have won the game. That's against a team who's flying high and won game after game in this league. If you look at our performances against Aberdeen we've more than matched them home anyway. Celtic, Rangers, the European games.

“There's been no dip in morale at all. In fact I think it's been the opposite. I think we've drawn confidence and belief in what we've been doing. What we've got to do now is turn that into results because that's the business, that's what we're in.”

Within the December run of fixtures are two Europa Conference League games against Copenhagen and Petrocub. What happens this month could have a real bearing on the rest of the season. “We prepare the same for every single game, regardless of who we're playing against,” added Critchley. “Celtic, Rangers, Dundee, Copenhagen next week, Cercle Brugge the other week. We prepare exactly the same way.

“We give full focus to the opposition and then we try and concentrate on how we're going to play in that game to give us the best chance of winning the game. So, all our conversation this week and all our focus is on Dundee, Tynecastle, Saturday 3pm and how do we win that game.”