Dotted around the streets of Edinburgh, attached to the odd lamp-post and railing, you can find stickers demanding change at Heart of Midlothian. ‘Neilson out,’ says one message, faded by the passing years. ‘Budge out,’ adds another.
The more things change, the more they stay the same, especially at Tynecastle where successive managers, players and even their one-time saviour and owner, Ann Budge, have often struggled to meet the standards demanded by supporters.
The bar was too high for former Hearts captain Robbie Neilson, who guided them to third place as manager and lost his job when they slipped to fourth the season after. So it’s no surprise to see the back of Neil Critchley, as his team flounder about in the bottom six.
The Englishman was sacked last night, just a couple of hours after they lost 1-0 at home to Dundee. It had turned nasty at Tynecastle, the board were getting it in the neck and, well, there are season tickets to sell.
It’s not good enough for Hearts’ supporters, who want more to show for the millions they famously plough in. Five points above the relegation play-off place with four games left, the club are in a place that the board cannot be seen to accept, whether they rated Critchley or not.
In truth, many of the club’s problems were not of his making. Replacing the sacked Steven Naismith in October, he inherited a squad that lacked pace, needed width and no longer had the goals of Lawrence Shankland to paper over the cracks.
Hearts manager Neil Critchley was sacked after his team’s 1-0 defeat by Dundee at Tynecastle
Chief executive Andrew McKinlay is feeling the heat after sacking two managers this season
Ann Budge has seen too many managers come and go during her time at Tynecastle
He had no summer in which to assemble his own squad, and no pre-season to implement a plan. With only limited business done in the January transfer window, turning the club around in the timescale demanded was a tall order.
Hearts were bottom of the Premiership with just two points from eight games when Critchley took over. While he was in charge, they had the fourth-best record in the league.
In recent weeks, he was the victim of fine margins. His team came within a controversial whisker of reaching the Scottish Cup final. And a top-six place would have been secured at Fir Park had Shankland’s late effort not sneaked by the post.
Had either of those turning points worked in his favour, he would probably still be in a job. But they didn’t, he isn’t, and the bottom line is that Critchley had no credit in the bank. For there had also been failures that were all on him.
Like squandering a historic opportunity to reach the knockout stage of the Europa Conference League. And coming up short in the big games. In six months, he failed to beat — even once — Celtic, Rangers, Hibs or Aberdeen.
More significantly, perhaps, he didn’t speak the language of a big club. A softly-spoken, perfectly nice bloke, he wasn’t angry enough for the fans’ liking and didn’t seem to get what Hearts were about. After they were consigned to the bottom six, he suggested that, in any other circumstances, a 0-0 draw at Fir Park would have been acceptable.
Critchley came with a modest cv. He had no experience of Scottish football, never mind managing one of its biggest clubs. His team played pedestrian, predictable football and, in the eyes of supporters, he just wasn’t a Hearts manager. In the end, the board agreed.
Which makes you wonder why they appointed him in the first place. The tie-up with Jamestown Analytics was at least partly responsible, providing data that suggested Critchley would take them forward. Maybe they wanted a training-ground coach who would gradually improve players and develop a culture that would pay off in the long term.
Which is fine… but don’t sack him after six months because he isn’t big enough for the job. If you aren’t going to be patient, don’t appoint a manager who needs time. If a strong character is called for, don’t appoint someone who isn’t used to the spotlight.
At a fan-owned club, with a big support, the manager has to be someone who can capture the imagination. If the fans are as powerful — and as engaged in the process — as they are at Hearts, his personality is as important as his principles.
Hearts need a manager of substance, a professional who will say the right things and get the right results. A manager who will light up Tynecastle with his energy and bring one of Scotland’s best football atmospheres back to its intimidating best.
Budge has got an awful lot right over the years, saving them from liquidation, redeveloping the stadium and introducing a new morality to the club’s decision-making.
But too many managers have come and gone in her time, from Neilson, Ian Cathro and Craig Levein to Daniel Stendel, Neilson (again), Naismith and now Critchley. Nor has there been nearly enough in return for the £50million of extra funding generated from the Foundation of Hearts and assorted benefactors.
Having transferred her shares to supporters, Budge now operates only as chairwoman and leaves Andrew McKinlay, their chief executive, to take the flak when it comes to football decisions.
He is already feeling the heat for presiding over a catastrophic season in which they have been through two managers and twice asked Liam Fox to take over as interim.
With Europe increasingly important to Scotland’s most ambitious clubs, McKinlay and his sporting director, Graeme Jones, cannot afford to get another one wrong. If they do, the Hearts fans will insist upon another departure — and it won’t just be that of the manager.
