"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."

That has been the consistent message from Liam Fox to Heart of Midlothian's B team over the last 15 months or so as he tries to prepare the club's talented youngsters for the step up to the first team as best as possible.

Now he is first-team interim coach following Steven Naismith's dismissal, fans are right to wonder what to expect from Fox in what will likely be a three-game spell - subject to change as the club search for a new head coach - and whether he will be able to change the direction of the team following the worst nine-game spell to start a season in the club's history.

Fox isn't new to first-team management having had spells, albeit not lengthy ones, at Cowdenbeath and Dundee United as the main man in the dugout. Nor will he be unfamiliar with the Hearts first team. It's not uncommon for him to be in the stands relaying information to the dugout when the B team are not playing.

Reflecting on that time at United, a 25-game spell during the 2022/23 season, he told Hearts Standard in May that working with the B team had given him "a real enjoyment back in the sense of working with boys who come in every day and really max themselves out". 

As the B team head coach he demands, more than anything else, attitude and application. That won't change at first-team level. As most fans will feel, it should be the bare minimum expected from the players.

As for what to expect with regard to the playing style, if we are to take Fox's time as B team boss there has been plenty of excitement going back to last season. Only Lowland League champions East Kilbride scored more goals than the Wee Jambos' 92 in 34 league games. This season the team have won games 4-1, 5-1 and 6-1.

Hearts B look to dominate possession while possessing penetration through the middle and down the flanks. They have predominantly played a 4-2-3-1 which can sometimes become 4-3-3. 

In possession, the two wide men will stay wide with the full-backs advancing but tucking in and given the freedom to vary their positioning, vertically and laterally. There is a desire to open up space for the wingers, namely Finlay Pollock and Bobby Mcluckie this season, to drive at their full-back with the other making sure to attack the box.

Midfielders are encouraged to break into the box and make runs in support of or beyond the striker. Take Callum Sandilands for example, he scored four in six before his injury, adding to 16 from midfield last season. 

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Makenzie Kirk thrived in the first half of last season due to his team mates' willingness to get down the flanks, to the byline or dart into the box to create chances and make use of the striker's movement.

This season has seen Macaulay Tait anchor the midfield, dictating play where and when possible, freeing up others to go forward.

Yet, for all those positives, the team have been wildly inconsistent. As well as the aforementioned 4-1, 5-1 and 6-1 wins, there was a stirring come-from-behind 4-3 success at Linlithgow Rose. On the flipside, they have also been defeated 6-1 and have not won any of their last five Lowland League fixtures, failing to score in the last three of those.

Parallels can be drawn to the first team, to an extent. The team have not been clinical enough in front of goal lately and have been punished with the concession of "cheap goals". Fox believes the team have had a "wee dent in confidence", not helped by the likes of Luke Rathie, Ethan Drysdale, Kenzi Nair and Sandilands, all more senior players, unavailable due to injury.

"Being a footballer is difficult, you are going to have ups and you are actually going to have far more downs than you are ups," Fox told Hearts Standard after the most recent loss, 2-0 to Broomhill. "At the moment we need to fight through those wee moments where everybody is not firing, not playing with as much speed and intensity as we would like. It's a difficult period but we need to keep working away. They will be better coming through this and they will come through this, there is no doubt about that.

Liam Fox had a 25-game spell as Dundee United boss.  (Image: Ross Parker - SNS Group) "I sometimes need to remember myself how young the group is. There are a lot of younger players coming in this year. I'd never use this as an excuse but we've got a lot of the older, more experienced B team players missing at the moment but that's okay, it speeds up the process of learning for the younger kids.

"There is a bit of doubt at the moment, some nervousness. Part of my job is to help them get through that and we will. It just highlights what we need to continue to work on. We've just spoken there about the first-team squad being so big that you have to be on the money all the time and the level of getting into our first team is so high now. It's a great opportunity for learning, for developing and sometimes they have to feel a bit of heat, a bit of disappointment as well because that is character building."

Fox will now turn his attention, for the time being, to helping the first team get through their own moment of doubt and hopefully in a better place come the appointment of a Naismith replacement.