In the process of searching for and selecting the next Heart of Midlothian head coach, the "main focus", according to chief executive Andrew McKinlay, was finding someone with a track record of working with and improving players.

The specifics of what metrics the analytics looked at are likely to remain vague such is the secretive nature of this 'algorithm' the club now have access to via the analytics partner with more information on that particular partnership not far away. 

We do know new Hearts head coach Neil Critchley applied for the job. We have been told by both McKinlay and Graeme Jones that he was the "preferred candidate" as per the analytics.

In turn, we can only speculate as to how the particulars of how Critchley fit into it. But there is no doubt that he has a proven track record of improving players. He has a body of work that goes back to his formative days in the academy at Crewe Alexandra and then nearly seven years at Liverpool. It is widely accepted he played a part in the development of Trent Alexander-Arnold, his talent, and his versatility.

There were, of course, many others. Some remain at the Premier League giants while others have made fantastic careers elsewhere. 

Then there are the Blackpool success stories. Nearly £6million was brought in from an outlay of £700,000 for Jerry Yates, Daniel Grimshaw and Josh Bowler.

Being on the pitch, contact time, and coaching time, are what Critchley lives for as a head coach. Putting on sessions, working with players individually and collectively is his "passion". It is the part of the job he loves the most and something Hearts will be looking to tap into.

"Helping players to improve, that ultimately helps the team improve," he said. "If they know how they fit into how we want to play, then you get better commitment and buy-in from them. I think that's my strength, that's what I love doing.

"It's going to be a little bit restricted because of the games, so you're not going to get loads of time on the training pitch in between games. But you have to use the time that you've got to the maximum. That's what I tend to do."

The expectation is for that coaching to benefit the club's younger players, those already at the club and in the academy, plus the ones that will be identified through the 'algorithm'. 

Critchley, understandably, is an advocate of giving youth a chance and Callum Sandilands joined the likes of Macaulay Tait, James Wilson, and Adam Forrester in first-team training this week. But there is no age limit or restriction to development. 

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"Liam [Fox] being with me at the moment, and I've already spoken to him, but him being with the B team, he knows all the young players and that's been invaluable for me," he explained. 

"We had some of the young players training with us on Tuesday and because of my background, I believe in young players and giving them opportunities. They have to earn it, it's not just giving to them, it's not a charity, but I think we all love our own players coming through our academy and seeing them out there on the pitch.

"I'm excited by all the players that are here because I'm a firm believer in it doesn't matter how old you are, if you've got the right frame of mind and you're open-minded, you can always learn and improve.

"We had players into their 30s at Blackpool, like Richard Keogh, Gary Madine and they were very receptive and open for wanting to improve and I want to work with those people because I think then you've just got a better chance of coming together and improving the team and the individual that ultimately brings the team together and has success in the future."

One job Critchley wasn't able to make an impact on players was at Queens Park Rangers. Perhaps the spell that has concerned Hearts fans the most. He lasted just 12 games, winning once.

As he said at his unveiling when he discussed his time with Blackpool, he doesn't look at the experience at Loftus Road as a negative.

"You talk about your first 100 days at a job and I was less than that," he noted. "So sometimes you know the decisions that you need to make, but you need to get the time to make them in the future. I didn't.

"The club continued losing after I left. I still think they're third from bottom now in the Championship. So it's still not right.

"You need time sometimes. I'm not foolish, I know you have to get results, particularly here. You've got to win games of football. If I can do that, then I'm really excited, with the conditions, the people, and the support I'll get, about what we can achieve in the future."

The immediate future is St Mirren on Saturday before the first Edinburgh derby of the season a week on Sunday. Between those fixtures, however, is a Conference League clash with Omonia of Cyprus at Tynecastle Park.

European football is, in a way, not new to Critchley from his time in the Liverpool academy. There are similarities he can draw upon with regard to preparation. But first-team football will be a new experience.

"At Liverpool, we played in many tournaments, we played in the UEFA Youth League which was an under-19 tournament that was all over Europe and I know this is on a different scale, but playing in Europe is different," he said.

"Whether that's the interpretation of the rules from the referees or the opposition that you play against and from watching the first game the week before, it's a different type of game.

"We've got a tough game coming up after St Mirren but we had a good first win [against Dinamo Minsk] and our aim is to try and progress out of there, to get as far as we can in this competition."

One of those differences is the Thursday-Sunday schedule.

Again, that is nothing new to Critchley having coached in the English lower leagues where the schedule is as intense as it is anywhere. Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday or Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday is a common occurrence.

"I think we played 59 games last season, something like that, so it's quite relentless," he explained. "I'm used to preparing, recovering, preparing, how to manage the squad during the course of the season. Our injury record was very good last season, availability was very good.

"It is a squad game, it's not about the starting XI, so making sure that every player is respected, giving everything that they need to give themselves the best opportunity for when they're called upon, even if they've not been in the team for two or three games, is something that I've got good experience with."