When Critchley was appointed in October, many Hearts fans had never heard of the former Liverpool youth coach.
Sure, he had managed Queens Park Rangers and Blackpool (on two separate occasions) but remained pretty much an unknown quantity.
Chief executive officer Andrew McKinlay refuted suggestions Critchley was the club’s second choice because talks had broken down with former Norway boss Per-Mathias Hogmo.
And two wins in his opening games appeared to show the Hearts board – or data partner Jamestown Analytics, who were heavily involved in the decision – had identified the right man.
However, just three victories against the Premiership’s bottom two teams in the next 14 matches followed.
Included in this run was a wretched performance against Moldovan minnows Petrocub at Tynecastle when a victory would have ensured European football would continue after Christmas.
Other big-game setbacks came against Celtic, Rangers and local rivals Hibernian, who resurrected their season after a similar dismal start to their campaign.
Critchley wasn’t helped by long-term injuries to key players, such as Frankie Kent, Stephen Kingsley and Craig Halkett. And when you add in the dip in form of striker Lawrence Shankland, the football gods were never really in his favour.
However, he will accept that football is a results industry and those results were simply not there for him.
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