At 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, Neil Critchley made his way from Gerrard's Yard, around the Tynecastle Park pitch, walking past the Gorgie Stand and up the touchline in front of the Main Stand to a huddle of media, photographers, and club staff.

It was a somewhat tame affair compared to what waits the new Heart of Midlothian head coach on Saturday afternoon when he takes his Tynecastle bow in front of what will likely be a sold-out home crowd. 

Unlike most new appointments, time, patience, and the so-called honeymoon period will be in short supply. Such is the situation Hearts find themselves in, bottom of the Scottish Premiership table without a league win, it is vitally important they begin winning games. Starting with St Mirren this weekend.

The new man understands that.

"My immediate aim is to win games of football," Critchley said matter-of-factly.

The 45-year-old is far from bombastic, he isn't a gregarious character. He is softly-spoken, measured, thoughtful. He would consider questions and seek to find the right words and the correct way he wanted to express himself. In front of cameras and dictaphones, he is unlikely to come alive, not getting too high, or too low.

He is fully aware of the fan reaction, as are the club. A reaction that has perhaps grown from underwhelmed to lukewarm in the last 24 hours. Ultimately, and importantly, the club believe he is the right man to take the team forward. And he believes he is as well.

"Otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here," he noted. "I say I understand that whoever's sitting here, it always divides opinion. I can only control what I can control.

"I promise the Hearts supporters that I will give them everything I've got every single day to improve this football club. And I'm fully confident that I can do that and I'll be the man to get us out of the situation that we're in right now."

Critchley knows several players and managers who have experienced Scottish football, including Brendan Rodgers and Steven Gerrard. The latter was the reason he chose to leave Blackpool during his first spell to work as his assistant at Aston Villa. There are people he has and will reach out to for advice and guidance.

He did, however, stress the importance of leaning on those who are the club and know it so well, including Liam Fox who was part of training on Tuesday. 

Critchley, who applied for the role and was viewed as the "preferred candidate" through the club's use of analytics and then the interview process, has used his time to do his own research, including watching every game from this season since he has "had a little bit of time" on his hands.

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He is aware of both the quality at his disposal and understanding that there needs to be a positive change.

"From what I've seen, what I've studied and analysed, from what I've seen on Tuesday morning, even though it's only one training session, I'm encouraged by what we can still try and do this season," he said.

"I don't want to give you too much information because that might give a little bit away what we might be doing for the weekend, but I think there's some cold, hard facts.

"If you look at both ends of the pitch, I think we've conceded practically two a game and we've only scored maybe six goals so that's the reason. If that trend continues, then inevitably it's only for one thing that happens. Quite simply, games are decided at both ends of the pitch and we need to do better at both ends of the pitch."

One of the reasons for the fans' scepticism of the appointment is Critchley's previous two management spells. A 12-game stint at Queens Park Rangers and at Blackpool last season, plus the opening two league games this campaign before he was dismissed.

Critchley has had time to reflect on those periods, learn about himself, and is of the view that Hearts are getting a better head coach, someone who is "in a far better position now" following what he has been through.

He also offered a different view on his second spell at Blackpool.

"I've had similar experiences and you learn from all of them, good and bad," Critchley said. "You reflect on them and I'll use that to hopefully make me better in the future. That saying, for adversity you gain strength and I think that's really true.

"I hope to use that to my benefit which ultimately transfers to the people I have responsibility every day for, which is the staff and the players.

"I have a different opinion on that because the first spell, we got promoted in our first season and then sustained our Championship status in the second. Then when I came back to the club it was after a relegation and there's been a lot of change at the club. Lots of players left, I think there were 17 players left last summer and we built a new squad.

"From changing a team that was losing and having the mindset of losing to a team that was then expected to win, to get to 73 points and only missing out on the last day of the season to get to the playoffs, to get to the semi-final of the EFL Trophy, one game away from Wembley and to take Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round to a replay an extra time, I didn't see it as a negative at all, I thought it was positive."

With Hearts where they are, the team must start the Critchley era positively, starting with St Mirren on Saturday.