'Critchley sceptics nowhere to be found now'

It's somewhat fitting that in the same weekend that saw Hearts supporter and wrestling superstar Joe Hendry shot to prominence, our Gorgie boys also rose to the occasion with a thumping 6-0 win at Dundee.

Much like Hendry appearing as the 15th entrant in WWE's Royal Rumble to his theme music 'I Believe in Joe Hendry', there are now Hearts supporters singing that about head coach Neil Critchley.

Little over five months ago, we witnessed the start of the downward spiral in our league form against with a bruising 3-1 defeat at Dens Park. The fact Critchley - who deserves huge credit - has led us back up there in such thumping fashion has vanquished any fears we have of going to any away ground now in Scotland.

It's amazing the turnaround in some players' form since Critchley took over. Cammy Devlin is in the best form of his Hearts career. Craig Gordon has kept four clean sheets in his past five league games.

Critchley has managed to get consistent performances out of youngsters James Wilson, Musa Drammeh and Adam Forrester. Even new signings Jamie McCart and Elton Kabangu have hit the ground running.

If the league table had reset when Critchley took over from Steven Naismith, we would be third. Many of his initial sceptics are nowhere to be found these days.

It's been a frenetic period in terms of comings and goings, with 13 in total. That number may rise as Yutaro Oda seems to fancy a return to Japan and that transfer window remains open. There are also fans hoping Barrie McKay might be tempted to reunite with old boss Robbie Neilson at Tampa Bay Rowdies.

The squad we're left with at the end of the window is much strengthened compared to the one we started with. I know the guys brought in aren't 'like for like' but you can argue that players including McCart, Kabangu and new left-back Harry Milne are all upgrades on Kye Rowles, Liam Boyce and Andres Salazaar.

Everyone of a maroon mindset is now believing top six is a formality if we continue recent performances, with some even holding out hope to crash the top four and make an unexpected run for third.

The focus turns to a Scottish Cup trip to St Mirren this weekend and that match will be a typical slog, given how Stephen Robinson likes to set up his side, but I'm confident we can progress to the quarter-finals.