Enjoyable as they were, David Gray will have known that routinely racking up five-goal victories is not the life of most football managers.

And he'll also have been under no illusions that there would come a moment to dispel the glow around the feelgood story that is his ascension from club captain and scorer of the most important goal in Hibernian's history, to the man calling the shots in the dugout. After trouncing Elgin City and Queen's Park, coming unstuck at Kelty Hearts a week ago was bad enough, even without the club's new billionaire investor responding to it by suggesting you weren't his preferred pick for the job.

You'd imagine Gray's immediate reaction to Bill Foley sniping that Hibs 'haven't really been listening' to his Black Knight FC group since they acquired a 25 per cent stake at Easter Road would've been something in the way of 'I don't need this'. But the poise and thoughtfulness in his public response to this mini-drama suggests to the Hibs fanbase they have a leader who can deal with the odd curveball.

And where his initial response to Foley's comments was to reiterate his own faith in himself, the 36-year-old made a point on Friday of extending that to the people who have entrusted him with an enormous responsibility.

“I've been at this club for 10 years now and the transformation for the club I joined, it had just been relegated to the Championship, the rebuilding that was required then to where I currently sit now and where I find the club, the transformation is off the charts," said Gray. "I think and that is purely down to the vision of Ron initially coming in, investing in the club with his generosity and then Ian taking that forward with Kit and the continued generosity.

"If you look at the stadium, all the work that's being done there, that's all the Gordon family's vision and then Ben Kensell actually being able to go and drive that and deliver that for the club. So as I say, those are the things that are going on behind the scenes and it's my job now to make sure the things that have all been done structurally me bringing the footballing side up level to where it should be because of everything that's in place.

“I've said it many times, I do firmly believe the structure that's in place now gives the head coach a real chance to be successful and it's over to me now along with the staff to make sure we get the product on the pitch right to take this club to where it needs to be."

With that in mind, then, is it reassuring to Gray that the Gordon family are still, ultimately, calling the shots?

“That's why they're the owners of the football club," he replied. "They've always got the final say and rightly so. I wouldn't like to comment but at the same time I know where I stand within the hierarchy pyramid and my job is to firmly focus on what's going on on the pitch. And that's my job every single day to get the best out of every single player and staff member in this building, so that's my full focus."

So, while it appears he didn't lose any sleep over Bill Foley, the same can't be said for what happened at New Central Park. Hibs can still secure passage to the Premier Sports Cup last 16 by being Peterhead at Easter Road today, but last week brought two things into sharp focus for Gray: how quickly football management can knock you down, and the things that can help pick you back up.

"When I was a player, and in the coaching capacity you always go back and reflect all the time," he said. "I was constantly reflecting on how I played. As a coach, you're still doing the same things, whatever your job was or your responsibilities, because I firmly believe you win together, you lose together so everyone's involved in it together.

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“So I'm not really one for sleeping after games. regardless, even after positive ones. But one thing I've tried to really do is worry about things I can affect, which was always going to be the next day in training. How can I then get the message over to players?

“And then I did spend a bit of time with my family as well because my six year old came up to me straight away and she's not interested in the results, she just wants me to be dad. So that quickly brings me back down to earth pretty quickly and understanding what I'm actually doing and why I'm doing it because that's what you can never forget, your reasons why you do the things you do.

“I'm a very fortunate person, I've got a very happy family that I need to provide for all the time and I need to be dad as much as I need to be the best football manager I can be as well, so it's balancing that But everything is about moving forward and how I reflect on how I can try and improve the group and make sure the players know exactly what was expected, coming back in Monday morning."