Critchley off to a Hearts flier with Omonia | Hearts Digest Podcast - video Dailymotion

Lewis Anderson sits in the host chair as Barry Anderson looks over Neil Critchley's appointment as Hearts head coach, and first game in charge.

Transcript

00:00It'll be another different test of course on Thursday night, St Mirren were very poor

00:06by their standards, a lot of defensive lapses offered very little in the final third, Hearts

00:12is back four in particular, very rarely tested. As you say Barry, Ammonia will present a totally

00:18different test.

00:19Yeah, I think you're looking at probably two games at the opposite end of the spectrum

00:23in terms of what kind of opposition you're facing because Ammonia will come and try and

00:27keep the ball. Their ball retention skills are good, they've got pace out wide. The style

00:35of their play isn't massively suited to what you might call the traditional British football

00:38so yes, there'll be an element of things at Hearts where they'll say, right if we can

00:43get in their faces we can unsettle them and we're aggressive and we're pressing them and

00:47we can knock them out of their rhythm. That'll be when Hearts don't have the ball. When Ammonia

00:50have got the ball and Hearts will need to be after them, closing spaces and pressing

00:54them back, not giving them any space. When Hearts have the ball they have to be really

00:57careful with it, they have to use it really sensibly. Keep it moving at a tempo but not

01:03give it away. For me, Thursday night a big part will be about ball retention, what you

01:08do with the ball and how well you keep it. I think that's a key part of Hearts game plan,

01:11I'm pretty sure Neil Critchley will know that.