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Manager is relishing time to get to work at Riccarton

For almost three months, Neil Critchley has waited patiently for a chance to properly demonstrate his skills as a training-ground coach. Relentless midweek games since his appointment as Hearts head coach in mid-October meant precious little time in between to work on tactics, team shape, combination play and fitness. Now there are seven uninterrupted weeks for the Englishman to fully impose his philosophy at Riccarton.

Hearts’ next midweek match is not until 26 February against St Mirren, so Critchley can prepare for the next six games with time in between to address problems and improve weaknesses. This Sunday at Aberdeen is another vital Premiership fixture following wins over Motherwell and Dundee United. Signs are that the Tynecastle side are gaining some momentum as they try to heave themselves clear of the relegation zone. Critchley is careful not to make any bold statements.

“I’m a little bit reluctant to say that because you know what can happen in football. But, yeah, it feels a little bit like that,” he says, in conversation with the Edinburgh News. “With the performances in the last few weeks after the Hibs game, I think we've taken a step forward. You can see there's a real togetherness on the pitch, a real spirit. We're defending well as a team and we've produced some moments of quality that have won us the game.

“However, we've still got lots to do, lots to improve upon. That's hopefully what will happen in the next few weeks with the games becoming a little bit more spread out. That should hopefully give us a little bit more chance to get some work done on the training pitch.”

He arrived in Edinburgh with a solid coaching background from spells at Crewe Alexandra, Liverpool, Blackpool, Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers. Critchley has been notably frustrated at the lack of training time to fully implement his methods, though. The hope is that, as he imparts more information to plays in the weeks ahead, Hearts will gain further traction in the league.

“Obviously, with the schedule we've been on and the games, we've had so many games in December and the start of January so the players needed a bit of rest,” he says. “Then we've got Aberdeen - a really big game, an important game. After that it's more weekend-to-weekend football, which gives you the time in the week to just breathe a little bit, reflect, do more meetings, have more time on the training pitch, speak to more individuals and units. It just helps to develop the team and the individuals in the way that I want to moving forward.”

Some Hearts players have already risen to the fore under Critchley’s tutelage. Musa Drammeh, Cammy Devlin and James Wilson are three such examples. More recently, Jorge Grant and Liam Boyce returned to the starting line-up to aid those aforementioned victories. And then there is Craig Halkett: A 29-year-old centre-back some supporters would have happily cast aside a few weeks ago, but for whose presence Hearts are now thoroughly grateful with Frankie Kent injured.

“Yeah, definitely, Halkett is another one,” agrees Critchley. “When they're senior players and they've been at the club a long time and they're not in the team, it's not easy for them to deal with. You can only ask them to be professional, train well, wait for their opportunity and be good with their team-mates and be good around the place every day. They have been. Halkett brings experience and leadership at one end and Boyce brings that at the other end. That spine down the middle of the pitch is vitally important.”

Boyce is set to depart for Derry City in the next few days as Critchley combines training sessions with recruitment meetings during his working day. More new signings are in the pipeline before the January transfer window ends. For the moment, the manager is content with the last two games and what he is getting from the Hearts players.

“Two clean sheets is really important,” he says. “Six points from six, seven from the last nine, gives us something to build on. We have been striving for more consistency with performance and results. It's not what we've had this season. That's the first time we've won back-to-back league games so we want to get on a run now and keep moving forward. Aberdeen is the next step on that journey.”

An Aberdeen team winless in 10 games, no less. And with only three goals scored in the last seven of those. Hearts fully intend to prolong the misery in the north east but their Pittodrie record is quite awful. They have lost 10 and drawn two of their last 12 visits and habitually struggle at the old ground. Critchley, mindful of Aberdeen’s 16-game unbeaten run to start the season, won’t read too much into their recent problems.

“I'm always wary of those stats. I just look at Aberdeen's team,” he says. “Any team that goes on a run like they did at the start of the season by winning game after game, that tells you the quality they have. At some point, they will win games again. I just hope it's after Sunday, obviously. We will concentrate on ourselves and respect Aberdeen. We know how they play but we know we will get a really tough game.

“We lost 3-2 last time at Aberdeen. It was the last game prior to me coming in and I remember watching it. I thought Hearts played really well on the day. I think Kenny [Vargas] went through and missed a one-v-one chance to put us ahead. Things went for Aberdeen on that day but there was very little between the two teams. We only have one point from four against them but that quite easily could be the other way round.

“I just think they are a really good team who are well-coached with a clear way of playing. They have attacking threats at the top end, pace and power in wide areas, and I know the quality of Leighton [Clarkson]. He has real ability in the middle of the pitch, plus experience in there and in the back line. They are a good all-round team. They are just in one of those moments. Other than Celtic, every other team in the league will have a tough period and Aberdeen are having theirs right now.”

The relationship between the Hearts mangagement team and Clarkson is worth exploring. Critchley and his assistant, Mike Garrity, are responsible for a large part of the Aberdeen midfielder’s professional football development. All three worked together in Liverpool’s youth academy and will enjoy a reunion at Pittodrie on Sunday.

“I coached Leighton at Liverpool for a few seasons,” explains Critchley. “He was at the academy from a very early age. Mike coached him at younger age-groups and knows him much better than I do. He knows the family really well, too. Leighton is a terrific footballer, a really intelligent player with real quality. When you get him on the ball in the middle third or final third, he is really dangerous. We saw that at Tynecastle when he scored against us. He is a good kid who is humble, works hard and wants to improve in his game. He is a definite threat.”

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