Baningime insists it’s on the players as well as he claims problems were evident at Hearts before Critchley was appointed
Gutted Beni Baningime insists Hearts’ 10-man Hampden show proved they are fighting for Neil Critchley.
And the Jambos midfielder hopes the supporters stand by the manager too.
Baningime saw the chance of a first Scottish Cup Final slip away as Critchley’s side were reduced to 10 men when Michael Steinwender was red carded before the break and then nine men in extra time as Cammy Devlin picked up a second yellow before Aberdeen struck a late winner.
The Englishman reckons ref John Beaton got it wrong when he flashed a second yellow at Devlin in the 116th minute before Oday Dabbagh’s 118th minute winner.
But Baningime says Critchley, who faced a fierce fan backlash last week after failing to clinch a top six spot, should be given time despite a second failure in seven days. He said: “Yes, we are playing for the manager.
“You obviously saw that because if we weren’t playing for the manager, then we would have bottled it and we could have lost three, four or five. But we didn’t and we’re all behind him.
“It’s just a strange season, it’s just a weird one and it’s a frustrating one too.
“Obviously, today we’ve done ourselves proud, but there’s been games where we haven’t. The worst thing for me is to keep changing managers.
“My mum and dad raised me well. They raised me to take responsibility for myself and they raised me like that.
“You don’t want anyone losing their job and you don’t want to be part of a team that continually does that. I don’t believe that’s going to be the case.
“I’m saying this because I’m a Man United fan and that happens a lot. I wouldn’t want to feel that way and think, ‘okay, maybe I’m potentially responsible for that’.
“I know we’re not really talking about the manager losing his job, but I don’t want to be part of a group that does that.”
Supporters turned on Critchley and his players last week but stayed right behind their side as they took the fight to Aberdeen with a man less at Hampden.
The accusation has been that the Englishman has failed to win a single big game. But after another chance to answer that slipped away at Hampden, Baningime said: “I think that’s up to the fans to decide, that’s not really up to me.
“I know the fans can be harsh, but there’s expectation and there’s expectation from the players, from the coaching staff also.
“We don’t want to be seventh. It’s not good enough. So that isn’t just on the manager. It’s on all of us.
“Before the manager came, we didn’t win in eight games or something.
“It was the worst in history, so that’s on us. Before the manager was here, it was a problem.
“I don’t just think it’s the manager, I think it’s all of us.”
Steinwender’s red card left Hearts with a mountain to climb. But Baningime reckons the second yellow for Devlin was the killer blow – and wrong.
He said: “I thought the boys dug in well. I don’t really get at referees, but I don’t think the second one is a yellow card.
“The ball is in the air, he’s not looking at the man and he’s trying to clear it. When he gave him the yellow card, I’m like, ‘what’s going on?’
“It’s just hard. I don’t want to blame the referees per se, but I did think that specific moment killed us and then they went on to score two minutes later”.
