Jamestown Analytics role in Hearts recruitment as perfect blend helps make process stand out from the rest

Neil Critchley says there’s a blend of two factors that make the Jamestown Analytics process simple and unique at Hearts.

The Tynecastle club announced earlier this season with the company which is allowing ‘exclusive’ player data services within Scotland. Jamestown also have agreements in place with Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion alongside Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise.

Signings like Michael Steinwender and Jamie McCart were identified through it in the winter transfer window, Critchley’s first as head coach. Another recruit has been found with help from the analytics tool ahead of the summer window, Christian Borchgrevink, a right-back from Norwegian top flight team Valerenga. Critchley says the mix between Jamestown’s identification plus their own due diligence is aiding Hearts recruitment, with the extent of it not something he’s encountered before.

How Jamestown works at Hearts

Armed with experience at clubs likes Aston Villa, Blackpool and Liverpool, Critchley told the Evening News: “It's a different process but I have to say it's quite a straightforward process. As long as we all understand that we're here to try and improve the squad and the club and they're part of that in helping us to identify players, identify players that we think will improve us and are also available, affordable. Then we have to do our own due diligence on the players, research, watch them, speak to them and then we come to that joint collective decision and so far it's been going very well in my opinion.

“I've had a little bit of that before at Liverpool, even at youth level. We had players from all over the world under 18 and under 21 so I was part of some of those recruitment meetings. We had data involved at Blackpool and at Aston Villa when I was there so I've been aware of it but not to the extent here and not to the mark it's potentially opening up for us here. But with everything, with any player that comes here, you're looking for the right type of character that you think can adapt to playing at this football club, in this league and hopefully we get those decisions right.”

Hearts thinking from up top

CEO Andrew McKinlay told Hearts TV earlier this season: "It's important to make it very clear that the Jamestown piece is a part of the process - it is not the entire recruitment process, I think people misunderstand that. The way it works is that Jamestown have a massive database which has been built over years and is continually updating itself, and it has an ability to tell us how players rate or how they would rate if they were playing in the Scottish Premiership.

"To give an example, we would have gone to Jamestown for this window saying we're looking for a centre-back. That gets fed to Jamestown and they then come back with some options based on their analysis.

“That is pretty much the beginning and end of what they do. We then do our own diligence on those players - the character, whether they'll fit into our squad, we'll do some references. What analytics cannot do is give you a view on the personality of a player. It's then for our team to do that and do negotiations."