Michael Stewart's instant verdict on Hearts sacking of Neil Critchley & what always stood out over head coach
The former Hearts midfielder was on TV as the news broke over Neil Critchley’s sacking.
Michael Stewart believes it was clear that Neil Critchley did not fit the mould of a Hearts manager from the offset after the club decided to relieve him of his head coach duties.
Sportscene was on air as new broke of the decision out of Tynecastle. A 1-0 defeat to Dundee alongside recent failures to get into the top six and Scottish Cup final brought an end to the Englishman’s tenure after only six months with Liam Fox now taking interim head coach.
Hearts are currently five points above the relegation play-off spot of 11th. Stewart claims there were few people initially on board with the appointment but he does have sympathy for the former Liverpool, QPR and Blackpool man.
Stewart reaction
He said on the BBC programme: “They're clearly concerned about getting dragged into a relegation play-off spot. I'm not surprised. I've got a great deal of sympathy for Neil Critchley. Very nice guy. Clearly knows the game of football but was never a Hearts manager. That's the bigger issue for me in terms of who's making these appointments. Neil Critchley was the 7th appointment, the 6th manager as Robbie Neilson was there twice since Anne Budge took the club out of administration.
“I know she's not dealing with it day to day but they've not got a particularly great track record of making appointments. With this one, with Neil Critchley, the concern here is that they basically absolved themselves of all responsibility, the board, and handed that decision over to Jamestown Analytics. When Neil Critchley's name was mooted as being the next appointment, I don't think there was a single person connected with Hearts that thought, oh, that's a good appointment.”
Hearts simplification
The former midfielder believes the club need to get back to where they belong, which is competing for European positions, pointing to St Mirren securing consecutive top six positions on a smaller budget. Stewart added: “I don't think it's rocket science. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. I think far too often at Hearts it feels like they're trying to be smart and trying to do things different instead of doing football things properly.
“Hearts are arguably the third biggest club in the country, certainly in and there amongst Hibs and Aberdeen. They should be there challenging every season. Great credit to St Mirren, they are maximising what they have got. Hearts aren't. Bottom six is not good at all. They should be in and around that European spot every season without fail.
“They should be challenging in the latter stages of the cup. Playing in a way, and Peter Grant spoke about this off camera earlier, Tynecastle should be an intimidating place for opponents to go. To do that, you need to have the right type of players. Unfortunately, at the moment at Hearts, there is too few like that.”