Former Rangers man is 'staring Hearts in the face' as Critchley successor hunt begins
A former Hearts midfielder has handed his old club some advice as they search for a successor to former head coach Neil Critchley.
Hearts have been told the right candidate to replace Neil Critchley is ‘staring them in the face’.
The Tynecastle board opted to part company with the former Blackpool and Queens Park Rangers in the aftermath of last weekend’s home defeat against Dundee as a dismal period in the season continued. Just two weeks earlier, Critchley’s men failed in their bid to secure a top half place ahead of the Premiership split as a goalless draw at Motherwell allowed St Mirren to seal a spot above the dotted line.
Despite an improved performance in the Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Aberdeen, a Hearts side that ended the game with nine men were condemned to a 2-1 defeat by an Oday Dabagh goal just two minutes from the end of extra-time. That increased speculation over Critchley’s future - but the Cheshire-born coach remained in charge for the post-split home clash with Dundee.
However, a goal from Premiership Player of the Season candidate Simon Murray helped the Dark Blues seal a narrow win at Tynecastle and ensured Critchley’s reign was brought to an end less than 24 hours later. With thoughts now turning towards its successor as Liam Fox takes temporary charge ahead of Saturday’s visit to Ross County, former Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart believes there is one ideal candidate for a club he insisted needs deeper changes to its setup behind the scenes.
What has Michael Stewart said about Hearts decision to part company with Neil Critchley?
He told the Scottish Football Social Club: “Hearts need a football manager, that’s what they need, an experienced manager to get control because the club as a whole have no leadership when it comes to football and I’ve heard a lot of people talking about when the likes of myself, Alan or any football people talk about the board having no football people on there. They say ‘what board does’ or ‘when does a board ever have football people?’ The game’s changed, you used to have a manager who basically ran the club and a chairman who ran the business. Now there are so many different layers of middle management and you’ve neutered the manager’s role into what is a glorified coach without the power.
He continued: “At Hearts, when you look at the structure, you have business people doing very well but then you have this sporting director. Graeme Jones is from a sports science background, he’s not a football person and then you have Neil Critchley, with the greatest respect, wasn’t a strong football character. So you had the football club being leaderless to an extent on the football side of it. Hearts, when it comes to appointments, have far too often gone for soft approach and not gone and got a strong character. It baffles me what the reluctance is for Hearts as a club to look at somebody like Derek McInnes and say you need to minimise the risk of an appointment more than ever right now. They need a steady grip now and he is staring them in the face.”