Hearts board culpable, the £50m issue, and the criteria for the next Tynecastle manager

The Hearts board have serious questions to answer. Sacking Neil Critchley on Saturday evening was a step many fans agree with, but the relationship between club and supporters is fractured in Gorgie. A bottom-six Premiership finish, three managers in one season and too many big-game failures leaves directors in the firing line. Not to mention players.

Steven Naismith started the 2024/25 campaign as Hearts head coach. He was sacked in September and replaced by Liam Fox as interim manager. Critchley became the permanent replacement in mid-October, yet six months later he is now gone and Fox is back in interim charge again. The process of appointing Critchley’s successor is underway. Sporting director Graeme Jones, chief executive Andrew McKinlay and the Tynecastle board simply cannot afford another error. There are, understandably, already calls for McKinlay and others to go.

Critchley’s 15 wins from 35 games in charge did not include any victories against Hibs, Aberdeen, Celtic or Rangers. He was appointed by the Hearts board, who partnered with sports recruitment firm Jamestown Analytics. McKinlay stated at the time: “Neil was the preferred candidate from an analytics perspective and also when we spoke to him. It was very clear he was the right person to work with us, Graeme Jones and the analytics. We didn't negotiate with anyone else. There was a lot of talk but Neil was the only person we negotiated with.”

Which begs the question: What was discussed with Per-Mathias Hogmo in the days prior to Critchley’s arrival? Talks broke down between Hearts and the Norwegian, who was then named Molde manager in January. After admitting Critchley hasn’t worked, Hearts need to source a properly experienced and tactically-astute coach in his place. The Tynecastle public demand better at a fan-owned club than the Premiership’s bottom six, a catastrophic European exit and a cup loss against a lower-division team.

It is worth noting that nearly £50m of extra money has been poured into Hearts from fans and benefactors since the club emerged from administration 11 years ago. Exceptional donations from benefactors total £29,465,000 since they began appearing in the club’s accounts in 2017. The running total of Foundation of Hearts pledges sits at £18,644,377.50 since monthly pledges were first drawn in 2014. That’s the guts of £50m on top of regular income such as season ticket sales, sponsorship, SPFL prize money, UEFA prize money and commercial revenue.

READ MORE: The story of Neil Critchley’s sacking

Where has it gone? Many players earn healthy four-figure weekly salaries, staff numbers are increasing, a new main stand opened in 2017, plus there has been other stadium improvement work and projects such as the Tynecastle Park Hotel. But the only measurement fans use to judge success is first-team results, and those haven’t been acceptable. Saturday’s 1-0 home loss to second-bottom Dundee, which proved to be Critchley’s last match in charge, is a case in point.

Too many experienced players underperformed for both Naismith and Critchley. They should not escape criticism. They finished third, fourth and third in the Premiership over the previous three seasons, earning umpteen European trips in the process as Jambos partied all over the Continent. Now it’s the bottom six, followed by League Cup group stages this July, by which time many players will have been moved on in a huge squad restructure.

So the new Hearts manager, whilst not quite having a totally blank canvas, will have plenty scope to shape the team as he wishes. With Jamestown’s help. Some of the signings identified by JA have either flattered to deceive so far or, perhaps, are not being used properly. Time will tell what level of quality is attracted to Edinburgh this summer. It simply needs to be better. Norwegian right-back Christian Borchgrevink is already signed on a pre-contract from Valerenga, with Kazakhstan international winger Islam Chesnokov set to follow. Hearts need many more to supplement those two.

However, they also need a figurehead. A Hearts manager needs to tick many boxes to succeed and properly connect with supporters. There are reasons people like Alex MacDonald and Jim Jefferies were popular at Tynecastle. Even George Burley during his short reign understood how to put out a team which excited the public.

The recruitment process will take several weeks. Here is the basic criteria the new man must meet: