Attitude. Application.

When reflecting on the past season for Heart of Midlothian's B team, Liam Fox would return to those two words.

After finishing 13th in a 19-team league in their inaugural Lowland League campaign, the young Jambos, fully assimilated to life in the rough and tumble of Scotland's fifth tier, were runners-up in the season that has just been. They earned 21 points more despite playing two games less, scoring 17 more goals and conceding 16 fewer in the process.

Rewind to the clock to last summer, attitude and application formed a key part of Fox's message to the players in his first meeting following his appointment as head coach to replace Steven Naismith in the role. 

READ MORE: How Hearts have evolved this season: Defiant defence, more control and set-pieces

"I said to kids on day one, and it might sound really harsh me saying it now, I’m not there to be their mate, I’m there to push them every day and they need to be clear about that," he told Hearts Standard.

"What I did say to them, because of my personality, if you give your absolute max on every single day, I will do everything I possibly can to help you. In turn, we will become really good friends and someone you can count on for the rest of your career and you can pick up the phone two, three, four years down the line but that’s only earned through their attitude and application every single day.

"I think that was an important first meeting for me. We are not here to give you high 5s and cuddles every day. There will be a point where my job is to support them, help them because I think people forget how young these kids are. They’ve just come in the door, they’ve just left school, they are 16, 17, 18 and they are going to make mistakes, they are going to have bad performances, they are going to have doubt, they are going to have periods where they aren’t performing the way they should be, that’s my job to recognise that."

From the opening day 7-0 win over Gretna 2008, those moments were few and far between as a collective with only champions East Kilbride winning more games and just seven losses across the 34 league fixtures.

"We’ve had a team that has performed well, scored lots of goals and won lots of games but most importantly we have managed to get players training with the first-team on a regular basis, being involved in matchday squads and lads have made their competitive debuts," Fox said. "From that point of view, we are pleased with the progress that has been made."

That, after all, is the ultimate aim of the B team, players following in the footsteps of Aidan Denholm, Macaulay Tait and now James Wilson in becoming part of Naismith's everyday thoughts.

Throughout the season Fox has rarely had his strongest team available. There have been times when players have been away with the first-team or, in the case of the second half of the season, some have gone out on loan. There has also been a frustration with the Lowland League guidelines.

"We are obviously restricted with the age and there are a couple of wee silly rules, Macaulay Tait plays five first-team games and then he can’t come back and play with me," Fox said. "What that does is give an opportunity to younger players. We probably didn’t put our strongest team on the pitch for the full season. That’s okay, that’s a challenge I knew I was going into. As long as me and my staff are doing our best to facilitate their learning, it’s building up the resilience of different challenges every week, different venues, different opponents, we might be a couple down on our strongest group but then it is up to them to help the younger kids when they come in.

"There is no point being frustrated with it or disappointed at not having your best players all the time. Let’s push the next batch on, let’s push the younger kids on. There is no point looking for excuses. I've never felt that at all from the players this year, they understand the challenges, they know they are a younger team playing in a very physical league, a man’s league. They have taken the challenge head on so I’m absolutely delighted with their level of performance, their attitude and application and stuff to build on next year for sure."

The squad have been challenged and put through a schedule that resembles what is expected of them when they enter the first-team environment. That has meant hard graft on the training pitch, analysis sessions and plenty of gym work. It has perhaps led to playing when fatigued as the youngsters get used to those demands.

For those who have watched the B team regularly across the past two seasons, the results can be seen not only on the pitch in terms of results and performances but also in the players' conditioning. They are bigger, stronger and quicker as they have adapted to the physical aspects.

And, returning to that hard work and application, the good news for Fox was that the group displayed a willingness to learn and a willingness to work hard in training, making his and the staff's job all that much easier.

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"When you are a football coach there are days where you need to drive, really motivate the players and push them, whether that be off the back of a bad result or a couple of things going on," he said. "I never really felt that with this group.

"I feel this group, this season, every single day turned up and trained properly which I think has helped them produce the results and performances. Confidence of being in the league last season has probably helped, physicality has improved, they have worked incredibly hard in the gym, that will have helped.

"I’m trying to be as consistent as I possibly can with them which has hopefully given them confidence and a belief. We’ve not jumped about changing this and that every single game, every single week. There has been a consistency of, ‘Right, this is what we are doing, we’re going to be Hearts, here is what we are going to do'. That’s been a factor. We are going to pass the ball, we’re going to press you high, we’re going to make it really, really difficult for you because Hearts fans want to see that type of stuff, a front-foot team. We've tried to put that in place as much as we can with the principles of the first-team staff and being consistent.

"The players are developing, growing and learning all the time. Their mental attitude to just accepting challenges has been a real positive for me.

While the young squad have benefited from Fox's leadership and guidance, in return they have given him an energy and enjoyment following six months as Dundee United boss last season, as well as a spell at Aberdeen as part of Barry Robson's coaching staff. 

The cutthroat, cynical nature of football is not as prevalent in the youth ranks where there is greater hope and excitement. Individuals are at the beginning of their playing journey, ready to be shaped, ready to learn. 

Hearts Standard:

"This job has given me a real enjoyment back in the sense of working with boys who come in every day and really max themselves out," Fox explained. "They do everything they possibly can. For a coach that is the best feeling in the world. That energises you. That makes me want to do my job better. That is probably the biggest difference I’ve found.

"Every job you do, every club that you are at, there are different parameters, different expectations, different pressures and these things can vary. It is about taking all these different experiences and making sure the players take the benefit of each experience. Experience is what you get after you need it.

"You always need to be learning and adapting as a coach, I don’t think you can stand still, I think you need to keep looking for new trends, different ways of doing things, different techniques for managing people because every player is different.

"You can have principle rules that have to be adhered to and have to be met but I will deal differently with Callum Sandilands as I would Bobby Mcluckie, Gus Stevenson as I would James Wilson. That’s just personalities and it’s up to us as coaches to find out what makes these guys tick and manage them that way."

Fox used the example of Mcluckie. A player you look forward to watching. In full flow, he is a direct and quick winger. Not of the inverted type but someone who will get chalk on his boots and stretch the pitch, vertically and laterally.

The example is one of individual management but also of the challenges players can face during a key developmental stage.

Hearts Standard:

"He was away with the first team for most of pre-season, he dropped back in with us and started the season so well," Fox said. "Then he hit a wee bit of bad form. Bobby comes out of the team, we have a conversation about what he needs to do better, I was consistent with my messages to him.

"He has a wee period out of the team, comes back in the team and does okay. And eventually, what happens through the circle of him working hard and the consistency he gets back on the pitch, starts making a difference and for the second half of the season, he was very, very, very good.

"That’s an example of how these cycles of things go. They are going to be up, they are going to be down, they are going to have really good spells, they are going to have down spells. Not everybody can be at their maximum every single week. We have to be able to understand that, they are still kids, they are still growing, they are still learning. But also the demand is always there from me. I can be quite harsh on them, I know that, but I do know if they come with me they will get the benefits of that.

"Whatever happens with them in their career at Hearts, hopefully they go on and play [for the first team] but if they don’t and they can put their head on the pillow and say they did everything they possibly can there is no shame in that. You’ve given your absolute best shot at it. If you do that what will be will be and you can’t have any regrets."

He added: "Being a football player there are more lows than there are highs. Far more lows. The week to week, you can be high as a kite one week, got three points, played really well. Within seven days you can be so disappointed because you haven’t played well and got beat. That’s how the season will play out, I know that through experience of playing and coaching.

"The sooner you can accept that but the attitude and application is consistent the more opportunity to learn, to improve and build up resilience because that is a huge, huge part of being a football player."

Hearts Standard:

Fox was keen to stress the opportunity for players to move between age groups and first-team where and when fits during the season. It is essentially a ladder between the under-16s, under-18s, B team and first-team.

When speaking to Hearts Standard, despite the season barely being in the rearview mirror, he and his staff had already been preparing for the next iteration, looking ahead to the 2024/25 campaign.

Fox explained: "We’ve got a really good batch of under-16s coming in in the summer so what does their journey look like? For example, an under-16 comes in, can they train consistently well every day with the under-18s? Can they break into the matchday squad? The next step is can they get on the pitch? Can they start a game for the under-18s? And that process bounces up to the 18s.

"Those are the steps of the ladder we are trying to put in place. That controls people’s expectations as well. The other thing I would say about that ladder, players can go up and down that and that’s okay. An under-16 may through circumstances, injuries, or illness or maybe they are just playing well, they might just come straight in and start a game for me but that doesn’t mean they are going to stay there. They have to be ready to go up and down that ladder over the course of a season."

Over the course of the past season, there has been visible progress and success, fuelled by attitude and application, both in terms of results and advancing players toward the first-team. The next step is replicating and even advancing it next campaign.