Hearts' December of reckoning awaits after slumping to bottom of league - why there is hope

While their capital rivals Hibs have been hogging the limelight for the wrong reasons, the scrutiny now turns on Hearts after the weekend’s action. Hibs were 3-0 victors away at Motherwell, while the Jambos drew 1-1 at home to Aberdeen. In isolation, that does not appear to be a bad result, but that combination of scorelines means Neil Critchley’s Tynecastle outfit are now two points adrift at the foot of the table.

With just two wins in 15 Premiership matches and a third-round Premier Sports Cup exit to Championship side Falkirk, it goes without saying that Hearts are massively underachieving domestically. Their fortunes in the Europa Conference League have been better, winning two matches out of four. One more positive result against either FC Copenhagen or Petrocub and they should have more European football to look forward to after Christmas.

Hearts’ poor form had been masked slightly by what has been going on across the city. Unlike Hibs, the Tynecastle side pulled the trigger early on a young head coach, deciding that Steven Naismith’s exit was required back in October. Given they had not won in nine of their opening matches across all competitions - adding to a poor end to last season - few could reasonably argue with the decision to part company with him.

Neil Critchley, the former Blackpool and QPR coach with a reputation for improving players, arrived in mid-October and Hearts appear a more cohesive, secure and attack-minded team than before. They have won three times in the ten games he has so far presided over. The 4-0 victory over St Mirren and 2-0 triumph over Omonoia were the high points, while a 2-1 loss at home to Kilmarnock stung and took the early wind out of the sails. Only St Johnstone have been vanquished since.

Hearts’ recent run of games has been arduous. Heidenheim, Rangers, Celtic, Cercle Brugge and Aberdeen is an unkind fixture list. Within all five matches there have been periods of really good play, where Hearts have been in the ascendancy, but that ultimately matters for little in defeat. The draw against Aberdeen on Sunday, when they came back from trailing at the break, can be seen as a positive ahead of a monster December that will go a long a way to defining what the rest of the season looks like for this club.

In the Conference League, a trip to Copenhagen will be challenging, but the home match against Moldovan minnows Petrocub on December 19 is one Hearts will be expected to win to secure at least a play-off place. Back in the Premiership, all of their remaining 2024 matches are against teams currently in the bottom half of the table: Dundee (h), Kilmarnock (a), St Johnstone (h), Hibs (h) and Ross County (a).

Edinburgh derbies are always tricky affairs, but now with seven weeks at the helm of Hearts, the expectation upon Critchley is that his team needs to kick on in December. These are the sort of matches the Jambos faithful demands their side to pick up points in - even more so when you think back to last season, where an excellent winter run allowed them to pull away in third spot.

Granted, things are different now. The most obvious issue is that last season’s 31-goal man Lawrence Shankland is just not scoring anymore. His only strike this season was a stoppage-time leveller at home to Ross County and after missing a penalty against Cercle Brugge last midweek, his confidence is clearly low - not helped by some of his own supporters telling him to “get to ****”.

Shankland’s general play has been decent but ultimately he is paid to score goals. Hearts’ issue is their over-reliance on the 29-year-old. If he doesn’t fire, there is little back-up from elsewhere. The experienced Liam Boyce has lost some of his sharpness due to a series of injuries and has barely featured under Critchley, while wide forwards Kenneth Vargas and Alan Forrest offer raw materials such as pace but lack too often in composure and end product. Teenage striker James Wilson has scored more goals this season off the bench (two) than Shankland has all campaign but the 17-year-old schoolboy still has a lot of work on.

Critchley must be wondering why Hearts’ hierarchy did not recruit another out-and-out No 9 in the summer. Their only forward purchase was Musa Drammeh from Sevilla, the Spaniard who scored against Celtic and forced Nicky Devlin to net an own goal against Aberdeen. A physical specimen, the general feeling is that the 22-year-old has plenty of rough edges that need sanded down. In the short term though, Hearts will call upon him.

Hearts were praised for conducting their summer transfer business early but too many of those recruits have not made the impact required. Playmaker Blair Spittal has come on to a game since the managerial change and left-back James Penrice continues to shine, but creative midfielder Yan Dhanda has not fired frequently enough and Malachi Boateng’s job is a midfield enforcer. There has been bad luck with the long-term injury to Costa Rican full-back Gerald Taylor, while left-back Andres Salazar from Colombia can’t get a look-in. Daniel Oyegoke shares right-back duties with young Adam Forrester. At this stage, only Penrice can be viewed as a profound success.

Longer-term injuries to dynamic central midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof and forward Yutaro Oda have not helped but every team has fitness hurdles to overcome - across the city, Hibs are without striker Kieron Bowie for months. The biggest problem appears to be that too many of Hearts’ attack-minded players just are not hitting the level required.

There are now curveballs at the back too, an area that has been improving under Critchley. Stephen Kingsley looks to have badly damaged his hamstring and left the Aberdeen match on crutches, while centre-half mainstay Frankie Kent was also taken off early with a quad issue. The club will know more on Tuesday as to the extent of their injuries. Kent, in particular, is a valuable player.

Critchley will hope for positive news on that front as Hearts prepare for a big seven-game run in 24 days across league and Europe. Not long in the door, the 46-year-old has already delivered some positive moments. But ahead of a January transfer window where he is expected to recruit his own players with the assistance of the newly-instated Jamestown Analytics, he must get a tune of out those already in the building during December to stop panic setting in amid what has now become a relegation battle.