Saturday could not have gone much better for everyone associated with Heart of Midlothian Football Club. There were plenty of eyes on Tynecastle Park for the start of Neil Critchley's tenure as head coach.

It was an appointment that was the focus of much debate and discussion following the announcement on Tuesday and the use of analytics as part of the process.

Critchley said "you dream of a start like this" in the aftermath of the 4-0 win over St Mirren. It was not only the club's first league win of the season but it lifted them off the foot of the table to be replaced by a Hibs side who contrived to lose 3-2 at Dundee United despite leading going into stoppage time.

The manner of the victory for Hearts was most welcome, in addition to the three points. Coming into the game, Hearts had scored just eight times in 12 games and had kept just one clean sheet. In 90 minutes or so, they doubled their clean sheet tally and scored 50 per cent of their season's goal tally.

It was as professional and as comfortable a performance as you are likely to get this season, aided by a St Mirren side that could best be described as hapless.

It was a very positive start from Hearts, lining up in a 4-4-2 for the second time this season (after Falkirk). 

"We're at home, we want to be on the front foot, we want to be positive and get attacking players on the pitch," Critchley said of the setup.

Blair Spittal provided some added insight as to what was asked of the team, in and out of possession, admitting the team have been "a wee bit open in transition".

"It was all about when we lose the ball that we don't give them an opportunity to hit us on the counter," he explained. "Close that space well.

"We worked on certain things, certain triggers throughout the week. When St Mirren got the ball that's where we're going to hit them. I thought that a big part of the game against St Mirren is to make sure that you go out and you're picking up the second balls. We managed to do that. Our distances within the whole team were good.

"It was me and Yan [Dhanda] behind Kenneth [Vargas] and Lawrence [Shankland]. They managed to stretch the game well for us and managed to pin St Mirren's full-backs both back. It allowed our full-backs to give us the width and myself and Yan to pick up pockets of space. We know that if we get on the half-turn we can hopefully create things."

It was a good team performance with some very good individual performances within it. The duo, however, that stood out, were Beni Baningime and Malachi Boateng.

A midfield partnership in a 4-4-2 is a very demanding role. In this instance, it was aided by the narrow positioning of Blair Spittal and Yan Dhanda and the fact the team had nearly 60 per cent of the ball.

One of the most positive aspects of Baningime and Boateng's performance as a duo was that it was two-way. It wasn't simply winning the ball or recycling the ball. It was contributing on both sides of the game.

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In possession

Neither player is going to regularly show up on highlight reels with defence-splitting passes or creating goals. Their work takes place in the phase before that. They provide an option and an out ball. What's so beneficial about them is their willingness to want the ball and to help out the team.

They performed a key function in the way Hearts got to St Mirren. 

Critchley, speaking about Daniel Oyegoke's stunning goal to put Hearts 2-0 ahead, said: "The second goal was what we'd been working on in the week about changing the play from one side of the pitch to the other."

Let's take a look at that. 

Look at the St Mirren players in the picture above and then in the picture below, the person to look out for Scott Tanser who is bottom right of the first picture. All eyes are focused on the Hearts midfield pairing. Look how much he gets dragged in field with Blair Spittal narrow.

They exchange a couple of short passes before Boateng opens the game up to Oyegoke who is in acres of space and will be allowed to travel to the edge of the box where, instead of slipping in Vargas he cuts in and scores a brilliant goal. 

This was a common occurrence. Baningime and Boateng were so adept and keeping possession, tempting St Mirren players toward them to open space and then play out.

There are a couple of examples below from the second half.

St Mirren players converge on them but don't disrupt their rhythm. And again...

Think of playing 5s. Put yourself in the place of the St Mirren midfielders. It's like chasing the older boy in the opposition, only he is a couple of yards quicker in his head. You can't get close to him.

From a Hearts point of view, Boateng and Baningime are those players in your team you can give the ball to at any point, especially when you are panicking, and they take care of it.

Their impact and ability to move the ball can be seen from the opening seconds of the match. Below is an indication of what Hearts wanted to do. Going back to what both Spittal and Critchley said. Keep the space to a minimum and then switch the play.

As the situation develops, Boateng is quick to a loose ball. 

It allows Baningime to start to progress play to the other side where the space is. 

Both players were very effective at switching play. But they did it differently. Bainingime did it with shorter passes on the ground. That shouldn't be a surprise to any Hearts fans. The Congolese star is not one for longer passes.

Out of 157 players to have played at least 300 minutes in the Scottish Premiership, he is in the top 35 for the shortest average length of pass.

Watching him, composed and in control, create space can be a real joy, almost toying with the emotions of the opposition. 'Do I press? Do I stand off?'

Boateng, meanwhile, was more direct in his switching off the play. 

It was Boateng who began the attack for the opening goal. His clipped pass out to Penrice was almost too high but the left-back did really well to keep it in play, as did Spittal to retain possession before Baningime joined in to find Kenneth Vargas. 

Their different approach to their passing can be seen in the final figures. Baningime had a 93 per cent accuracy from his 40 passes. Boateng was 80 per cent from 65.

Out of possession

Blair Spittal mentioned winning second balls.

There is always going to be an element of pinball and chaos in the midfield of Scottish football matches. Having players who can react quickly and pick up second balls is huge. Without trying to exaggerate the point, such qualities can help turn a game.

Baningime and Boateng were brilliant. The maroon and white Bash Brothers. Between them, they had 30 pressures and nine counterpressures. 

When they had to dig in and stick their foot in they would but they were at their best when reacting to the midfield action unfolding. Being in the right place at the right time. If they weren't they reacted quickly and aggressively.

Take Baningime in the second half. The ball becomes loose on the edge of the St Mirren box. He is much further away than St Mirren players but they don't react with the same gusto as him.

Similarly, the ball is being knocked around in the air. Who gets to it before the opposition, knocks a pass out wide and brings possession back under control? Boateng. 

Even when they didn't win the ball, they asserted the pressure which forced St Mirren to lose the ball as Baningime did when the ball went into Kailian Phillips. 

One area that turned out to be hugely effective was Boateng's aerial presence. No player won more aerial duels than the midfielder's nine. He took the pressure off the centre-back partnership by providing an extra layer of cover when St Mirren went long. He dominated Phillips in the air as shown below. 

It was a brilliant midfield partnership performance. One of the key elements was how they worked in tandem. If you were to look back through all the images, in most, Baningime and Boateng are very close to one another. 

This allowed them to work together in and out of possession. They didn't leave gaps, they didn't get exposed, and they had a nice balance in terms of playing between one another and then progressing the ball.

Is it a partnership that will be the one for every game? Perhaps not. But when Critchley requires a dynamic and composed platform to support an attacking quartet, they appear to be perfectly suited.