While Critchley has lifted Hearts off the bottom of the table since being appointed head coach in October, he was forced to acknowledge the anger from the away end on what he conceded was “a hugely disappointing day”.
“We’re all frustrated, massively frustrated,” he said. “It’s not just on today. You’ve got to look at other performances and other games that we could have maybe got something from.”
Hearts miss out despite looking on course for the top six after defeating St Mirren 3-1 at the end of February.
“I don’t think there’s a lot gone wrong,” Critchley said. “We’ve shown a lot of progress and this game can’t define us as a group or our season.”
Former Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart has “got some sympathy” for the Englishman.
“I do think he has improved things, but there are fundamental flaws in that squad,” he said.
Stewart, not for the first time, highlighted the lack of pace and the need for a striker to help during Shankland’s downturn in form, problems not solved during Critchley’s first transfer window in January.
“Why the club never signed another striker is beyond me,” he said. “I think that’s the source of a lot of the problems here.
“It’s become a runaway train and Lawrence Shankland hasn’t been able to steer it back on track.”
Critchley pointed out that he has a Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen to look forward to, but Hearts are now only six points clear of Dundee in the relegation play-off spot having played a game more.
“The bottom six is going to be an absolute bloodbath,” Stewart predicted. “The chances of Hearts being relegated are very slim, but the despondency that will be surrounding Tynecastle will be huge.”
As for Motherwell, the BBC pundits were unaninimous that, whether or not they avoid relegation, Wimmer’s summer task will be to drastically reduce a bloated squad of 36 players.
The Austrian, who was appointed in February after Stuart Kettlewell’s resignation, was philosophical about missing out on the top six.
“To be honest, I have no reason to be disappointed, because we could not influence the St Mirren result,” he said. “In the end, I can say it was in many periods a good performance from us.
“I saw disappointed players in the dressing room, which I can understand because they have been here for 33 games and, for me, it’s only seven games.”
