Taking over at a club which has just enjoyed a period of prolonged success can be challenging for a manager.
He instantly needs to maintain the high performance levels which were attained under his predecessor and ensure that his team records the same impressive results to avoid discontent growing among supporters in the stands and survive in his new role.
Very often, coming in after a bad run of form, even a relegation down a division, can be a far easier scenario to deal with.
So whoever replaces Derek McInnes at Hearts faces a huge task. Who on earth do the Tynecastle club turn to following the departure of the man who came within minutes of delivering a first Scottish title in 66 years last season?
And, perhaps just as importantly, how do they go about recruiting him?
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Do they rely on the data which Jamestown Analytics provides, as they did when they brought in Neil Critchley back in 2024, as they headhunt their new manager? Or do they look, as they did 13 months when McInnes was lured to Gorgie, for another coach with a proven track record in the game in this country?
It will be fascinating to see what direction Hearts, who have already started speaking to potential candidates even though no official announcement has been made, go in.
Tony Bloom, the Brighton owner and professional gambler who received a 29 per cent stake in the perennial Premiership underachievers around this time last year in return for his £9.86m cash injection and immediately helped to oversee a dramatic upturn in fortunes, is sure to have a major say on what happens next.
The underwhelming impact which Critchley, the little-known Englishman who had previously had spells in charge of Blackpool and, briefly, Queens Park Rangers, made during his fleeting tenure did little to suggest that crunching the numbers unearths a suitably qualified individual.
But it is worth pointing out that staff at Jamestown, the London-based recruitment firm whose algorithms helped to identify, among others, Claudio Braga, Alexandros Kyziridis and Harry Milne, were impressed with McInnes when they assessed his credentials.
With the Champions League second qualifying round matches due to be played in the third and fourth weeks of July, it is imperative that a replacement for the former St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock manager is brought on board quickly.
Do they need someone with European experience to take over? Would it be folly to turn to a novice in continental competition with league phase football at stake? There is much for chief executive Andrew McKinlay and his associates to consider in the coming days.
Gary Mackay, who played under revered figures like Alex MacDonald, Sandy Jardine, Joe Jordan, Tommy McLean and Jim Jefferies during the 17 years that he spent in the first team at Gorgie in the 1980s and 1990s, is desperately disappointed that McInnes has departed.
He is, though, confident that bringing in a manager who can build on the progress which has been made will not be impossible. He has been heartened by the appointment of prominent businessman Calum Paterson as chairman and encouraged by the early arrival of new signings like Amadou Ba-Sy, Josh McPake and Calvin Miller.
But he has also sensed a siege mentality developing among his fellow Jambos in the wake of the heartbreaking defeat to Celtic at Parkhead last month – not to mention the goading from rival fans which followed it - and expects that whoever comes on board will receive the unstinting backing of everyone in the fanbase as a result.
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“I'll be honest, we do feel that what happened in the league last season is being rammed up us just now,” he said. “Anybody who gets the opportunity to come in should be rubbing their hands because the support will be 100 per cent behind them.
“When you have a crushing disappointment like the one we have suffered, sometimes people fall away. That won't be an issue for the new guy. The fans will be back in large numbers. We don't have a sense of entitlement as a support.
“Derek has always had suitors because he's shown that he's an outstanding manager. It would have been nice if he had left our football club having won something. We got so close, but it just wasn't to be. I am disappointed he has left so soon after our striker and captain [Lawrence Shankland] has left, but I understand his reasons.
“But we need to shut the page in that book and make sure that we align ourselves with whoever comes in and give him exactly the same backing. As I say, I am sure that will happen because of the circumstances which the new guy will come in to.”
So does Hearts’ record appearance holder have any concerns about Jamestown being used in the recruitment process? Or does he think it is essential the capital club use data and scour the globe?
“I spoke to an ex-colleague of mine from England when I knew Neil was in the frame and he told me he was a lovely guy and a great coach,” he said. “But he wasn't sure if he would be able to manage a club of Hearts’ standing, a club where the fans are so demanding. Sure enough, it was a bad fit.
“It's about trying to make sure there's a fit. Remember, a lot of people didn't think Derek was the right fit. I did, but a lot of people didn’t. They were proved wrong. Derek has always, wherever he has been, met the demands on him. That is key for me, regardless of how you go about it.
“Hearts have to get a manager in who understands what is required to play for the club in the Premiership and can make players understand that and improve them as well. Derek did that.
“Throughout the history of our club, decent footballers have come in and been unable to cope with stepping out to play in front of 20 odd thousand fans at Tynecastle every other week.
“I’ve been fortunate to meet the chairman a couple of times that gives me greater confidence than I've maybe had in the past because he gets Heart of Midlothian. I think Tony Bloom does as well. They know they have to get someone who can deal with things when we are maybe going through a wee trough and improve the side at the same time.
“You will always get people in a support who will prefer somebody else. But it's about the people within the football club being strong and making the right decisions. As I say, it gives me faith that Callum is there, that recruitment is well underway and that the fans are united.”
Mackay continued, “I'm not convinced Europe will be the be all and end all. I don’t think it matters whether the new manager is foreign or Scottish. It will be about bringing in someone who can improve the group that we have, deal with the demands which will be on him and continue the progress that we've made.
“Look at two of the best managers in Scotland last season – John McGlynn at Falkirk and Jens Berthel Askou at Motherwell. They were two totally different characters and had two different temperaments, but they got their teams playing well and punching above their weight. That is exactly what we need.”
