Neil Critchley was delighted with his Heart of Midlothian side as they defeated St Mirren 4-0 at Tynecastle Park in his first game since becoming the club's head coach.

He watched on as Kenneth Vargas opened the scoring to give Hearts a 1-0 lead. They doubled the advantage right after the break before adding two more late on.

It was the team's first league win of the season and coupled with Hibs' defeat at Dundee United it is a success that lifts Hearts off the foot of the table.

Critchley discussed the best possible start, his formation decision, Tynecastle Park reception, the players he left out and more.

Read or listen to everything the Hearts head coach said:

Could you have dreamed of a better start to your career here?

Probably not, no. 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.

What impressed you most and why did it go so well?

I'd say that the way that the players have, in a short period of time, taken our ideas onto the pitch. I thought we started the game really well, with good energy, kept the ball well, passed the ball well, got into good areas of the pitch. We were threatening and the first goal was massive, we haven't scored the first goal this season. It was a terrific first goal, Kenny scored in the week, came back in good spirits and he's backed it up again today. I think in the second half, when we went 2-0 up, we could have controlled the game better and had more of the ball. I'd rather see us being dominant when we're winning. The best form of defence is attack, keeping the ball and pushing them back. I think we allowed them to start raining balls on top of us a little bit, even though I don't think Craig's had a save to make during the whole game really. I didn't feel under any undue pressure, but you know, sometimes just percentages of balls coming forward, it could land for them at one moment in time. Fortunately, it didn't. We got a couple of goals near the end and that was a nice feeling.

Can you explain the set-up with two strikers and two creative wide players?

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.

A warm reception before the game, what did you make of the Tynecastle crowd?

I loved it. 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.

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Psychologically, for everything that's happened, off the bottom of the table. How important is that to lift the whole thing up as a platform now?

Yeah, 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 today. You don't want that run to continue and keep going. But, look, we're in for training tomorrow morning, and we've got a really brilliant game to look forward to now on Thursday night.

What was your take on Adam and James when they came on?

Yeah, I thought all the subs did well when they came on, to be fair. I like Adam, I like his energy. I know Liam gave him his opportunity. I was impressed with him, the way he handled the ball, handled the occasion. James has been a real live wire in training. What he does is stretches the game. He runs like Kenneth does, he stretches the defence. When the opposition leave your space, and I think it was 2-0, obviously, when he came on, you know that he could cause a problem in behind. I wasn't expecting him to score like that, but it's a goalscorer's goal and they all count.

How happy are you for his first goal?

Yeah, delighted, yeah. There's no better feeling than seeing one of your own on the pitch. And I'll repeat, I'm not doing it because it looks good, I'm doing it because I think they're good enough, it's the right thing to do. Yeah, I was absolutely delighted for James, but for all the players today, the squad has been fantastic this week. It is a squad game now, it's not about the starting XI. We made a couple of changes from the Aberdeen game, there might be some changes in the week, which is why they need to be ready and prepared, ready to go.

How's Blair Spittal? 

Blair epitomised the team today. I thought he was energetic, pressing. I like his mentality. I think he's just cramp, hopefully he is just cramp. Put a lot into the game and that's a testament to him.

Dhanda and Penrice also put a lot into the game?

I thought the two centre-backs were fantastic, all of them. Frankie and Kye today, they've had to deal with a lot of long balls rained on top of them. I thought they were pretty much faultless and they protected Craig really well. I know what Yan's capable of and Penrice has been brilliant. Beni [Baningime] and Mal [Boateng] give us really good control in the middle of the pitch as well. Shanks with his little bit of creativity around the box for the first goal. It's been a great day.

You talked about it being a squad game, the squad is quite big. Can you talk to us about the players that you had to leave out and your plans for the future?

Yeah, it's not easy, it's not easy. That's something we probably need to look at going forward. It's the most difficult part of the job, leaving players out of the squad. But what I said to them, it was one of my first messages when I came here, is I have to disappoint some of you every week, which is the hardest part of the job. But what I'll do is I'll always respect every single one of you. So it won't be that players who are left out of the team are just cast aside. We'll make sure that they get the right training tomorrow, the right care individually. For when they get an opportunity to play, which could happen. I'm not afraid to change just because we've won the game. If I think it's right to change on Thursday night, because it might be a tactical tweak or a different player playing in the same position brings something different, then I won't be afraid to do that.