New Hearts boss addresses change of shape decision and warm Tynecastle reception in four-goal St Mirren rout

Hearts Head Coach Neil Critchley applauds fans at full time | SNS Group

Neil Critchley admits he couldn’t have envisaged a better start to his Tynecastle tenure as Hearts recorded their first Scottish Premiership win of the campaign in emphatic style against beleaguered St Mirren.

The former Blackpool and QPR boss savoured a dream start to his reign in Gorgie as four well-worked goals from Kenneth Vargas, Daniel Oyegoke, James Wilson and Blair Spittal lifted the Jambos off bottom spot in the table and consigned the Paisley outfit to a third defeat in a row.

This was a performance full of flair, creativity and panache - something Hearts fans have been starved off so far this season. And Critchley was delighted by how “receptive” his players have been to the information he has passed on this week.

Hearts' Kenneth Vargas (L) and Yan Dhanda (R) celebrate an important win against St Mirren at full time | SNS Group

“Probably not, no,” Critchley admitted when asked if he could’ve dreamed of better start to his Tynecastle reign. “When you go to bed last night, go to sleep, you dream of a start like this, scoring a few goals and keeping a clean sheet. I'm delighted for the players, they've been fantastic this week, so receptive to the work that we've done.

“I think there were signs of that on the pitch and to keep a clean sheet, I think that's really important as well. It's a real confidence boost, you can see that to the players. There's an element of relief, I think. It's good to get that first win under our belts, and it was an important day. You don't want that run to continue and keep going.”

The Jambos head coach opted for a change of shape in the final third with Kenneth Vargas playing in a more central role in attack alongside Lawrence Shankland, with two creative wide players in Yan Dhanda and Blair Spittal causing the Saints rearguard several problems throughout. Explaining his thought-process behind altering the set-up to a 4-4-2 formation, Critchley said: “We're at home, we want to be on the front foot, we want to be positive and get attacking players on the pitch. They surprised us and now they've lined up a little bit. We didn't expect them to play with the formation that they did. They changed that half-time to the formation that we thought they might play.

“And the second goal, I'm not sure where that's come from, to be honest with you, I wasn't expecting that. But the second goal was what we'd been working on in the week about changing the play from one side of the pitch to the other. Not that he was ever going to hear me, I'm screaming for Dan, I think it might have been Kenneth on his outside, and I'm thinking he's going to slide him in, 2v1, and he's come inside and hit it. So, yeah, made up for that one to go in to be fair.

The Englishman received a warm reception from the Tynecastle faithful ahead of the match. “I loved it,” he grinned. “It was fantastic. I understand that I'm going to have to prove myself to the supporters here. I totally get that, but I'm confident I will. And they'll learn over time, hopefully, that they believe in who I am as a person and what I can bring to this football club.”