Neil Critchley swerves the buzzwords and bulls*** as something Hearts boss did after Killie won me over - Ryan Stevenson

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It might sound daft after Hearts lost to Kilmarnock and are sitting rock bottom of the league. But I actually feel even more positive about the future of the side under Neil Critchley.

I was sceptical about his appointment, mainly down to this talk about algorithms, as I feared we might be landed with one of these coaches that are all buzzwords and BS. But Critchley has quickly won me over – and not just because of the immediate results. You can often get a new manager bounce but it was the way he went about it that impressed me. He spoke so well about the need to win the battles first then play – and Hearts did that against St Mirren, Omonia then getting the point at Hibs.

He went with two up front – which I loved – and spoke about playing the “Hearts way”. But there was a bit of me that wanted to see how he responded to his first setback. And we got the answers on Wednesday night. It was a real reality check for Critchley against Kilmarnock – and the response from him was spot-on.

There was no sugar-coating, no mealy-mouthed protecting of the players. He called it as he saw it – and that was exactly what I wanted to hear. He admitted the defending wasn’t good enough and it might not have done any harm in the short term seeing it for himself.

The defending hasn’t been good enough all season. We know there’s issues with scoring goals but first and foremost the manager will have to make Hearts hard to beat.

Right now they are far too easy to play against. That is something he’ll need to change but it’s also down to the players.

They need to want to do the dirty stuff, the simple things that can make life difficult for teams in this league.

Killie were the perfect league test for him. The Rugby Park side might have struggled a bit at the start of the season but it was obvious a lot of that was down to being stretched by the
European games.

But they’ve an outstanding manager in Derek McInnes and a right good squad who all know how to do their jobs. They know how to stay in games and come back to win, even after going behind.

Look at the winning goal the other night. It was a simple long throw. Win the first ball, win the second then bury the third.

That’s what Hearts need to do, get back to basics and build from there. As for the other end of the pitch? You can’t ignore the elephant in the room. It’s another game without a goal for Lawrence Shankland and people are asking, “When does it become a concern?”

The answer is now. Listen, I’m sure Lawrence is sick of picking up his Record and seeing me bang on about him every week. Last season it was because it was so good, this time it’s because he is not scoring. But when you go from a 33-goal season to notching just once before November, it is an issue.

I feel for him. All strikers go through tough spells when it’s not going for them and it’s almost like he’s trying too hard.

But he seriously needs help. I had to laugh at Kenneth Vargas cupping his ear after scoring against St Mirren. Mate, it’s your first goal of the season and it’s October, you’re hardly silencing the doubters.

He should be hitting double figures and if he’s copping flak at that point then he’s entitled to celebrate how he likes.

The emergence of James Wilson gives a bit of hope and hopefully he can weigh in with a few more goals. He looks like he has the tools, but he’s still only 17, so he’ll need to be managed.

It’s up to others to step up and take some of the load off Lawrence. They better do it quickly too. Seeing Hearts bottom of the table at this time of year is frankly ridiculous. But they can’t just expect things to click.

If I was in that dressing room I would be busting a gut to get out of this situation and show the manager I’m worthy of keeping around beyond the January window. The clock is ticking, the long winter months are tough, and it’s easy to get detached.

The good thing after Wednesday night is Critchley will know more about this squad now and will be doing something about it. It’s over to the players to shape up and sort it.

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