Mathie: Background info vital before we opted for boss

budget in League One, which is true, but you have to dig deeper and realise he was attempting to transition players on League One salaries into a dressing room with others earning Premier League wages.

“That’s a challenge. He is trying to get them to be part of a team and work together.

“That came across – his ability to manage individuals and get the best out of them.

“We are a club looking to transition through young players, which he has done. He has picked the right time to bring through young players at his previous clubs and actually brought about sales.

“Other aspects were his ability to change shape and formation to adapt to the teams and players he was up against.

“There’s his ability to turn draws into wins with positive substitutions. All these things were part of our thinking and we had all that information before we met him.”

There has also been criticism of Mathie from the Hibs fans after the business done over the summer. Heckingbottom added 10 players to his squad, nine of which were his picks after Scott

Allan had already agreed to return from Celtic.

For the most part supporters have been underwhelmed by the impact made so far and, as head of recruitment, Mathie’s role has came under scrutiny.

The former Celtic scout said: “The unfortunate thing in this game is that you get an appraisal sometimes three times a week.

“If a performance is positive and a result is positive, life’s good, recruitment’s great, the coaching’s brilliant. If it goes the other way it’s the opposite.

“That’s the game we’re in. I’ve been in it long enough to know you don’t pay your mortgage working in football. You’re judged every week.

“Some of the criticism over the summer we take on the chin. We believe the players are good players.

“We wanted to do a number of things with the recruitment – balance the age profile in the squad, have better control of contracts to try to have fewer loans and short-term deals.

“Within that you need to make decisions. That’s what we’re here to do and what we’ll be judged on, so we accept it.”