Difficult year following criticism (6)
I believe the answer is:
sticky
'difficult' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'year following criticism' is the wordplay.
'year' becomes 'y'.
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'criticism' becomes 'stick' (I've seen this before).
'y' after 'stick' is 'STICKY'.
(Other definitions for sticky that I've seen before include "Awkward - viscous" , "Oppressive" , "Adhesive - muggy" , "Awkward - muggy" , "Gluey, gooey" .)