Jack Ross insists he'll face the flak head on as Hibs boss as it's proof of the great expectations for his Easter Road revolution.
The boss knows critics are lining up to put the boot in after three straight defeats which has taken the air out of a buoyant and unbeaten start to the campaign.
But as the 45-year-old prepares his side to host Celtic on Wednesday night, he's adamant if he couldn't take the heat then he'd be working at a club with little ambition and further down the football ladder.
Ross said: "I came in here and didn’t want to be mediocre and average.
“I didn’t want to have spells of doing well and then others not doing so well. It was about being consistently good.
“We have pretty much got there in recent times so when we dip below that you get criticism.
“If you don’t want criticism as a player or manager then go and work at a mediocre club without big expectations.
“I have been open about the expectations here.
“We aren’t our own worst enemy but we know if we don’t hit them then we will get stick and I would rather have it that way.”
The former St Mirren boss is refusing to run from his detractors but revealed he blocks out the noise by staying well clear of all forums and forms of media.
He said: "To be honest, other than what I would hear in a stadium, I wouldn’t know about anything else – because I don’t read anything else. I know people say that all the time but it’s the truth.
"I’ve trained myself, had to train myself because of the clubs I’ve managed in recent times, to do that.
"It allows me to be clear-headed in my thought process.
"The criticism is a combination of things. It’s a sign of the times – and also a sign of how far we’ve pushed the group to produce decent results for a consistent period and we’ll get back to doing that. We have to believe that and show it."
