Hearts set to announce Critchley as head coach

Heart of Midlothian have agreed a deal with Neil Critchley and are close to announcing the Englishman as their head coach.

The 45-year-old has arrived in Edinburgh and is poised to succeed Steven Naismith, who was sacked last month after a winless start to the Scottish Premiership season and a run of eight consecutive defeats.

A media conference is expected to take place on Tuesday.

He managed Blackpool between 2020 and 2022 then returned to the Lancashire club in 2023 after a three-month spell in charge of Queens Park Rangers.

Critchley, who took the Seasiders up to the Championship in England via the play-offs in 2021, has won 77 and drawn 47 of his 185 games as a manager.

He coached Liverpool at under-age level and was Steven Gerrard's assistant at Aston Villa for a short spell in 2022.

B team boss Liam Fox oversaw the draw with Ross County in the Premiership, the Conference League win against Dinamo Minsk and the defeat by Aberdeen following Naismith's exit.

Hearts are bottom of the Premiership with two points from eight fixtures and had been in discussions with former Norway boss Per-Mathias Hogmo before talks broke down.

Hearts finished third in the Scottish top flight last season and reached the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions.

Defeat by Viktoria Plzen over two legs in the Europa League consigned Naismith's side to the Conference League but the former Scotland forward had been sacked by the time its league phase began earlier this month.

The Tynecastle side host St Mirren in the Premiership on Saturday then welcome Cypriot club Omonia Nicosia in their first home Conference League game the following Thursday.

The first Edinburgh derby of the season against Hibernian takes place on 27 October.