St Johnstone’s win over Hibs on Saturday – their second consecutive win in the fixture this season -  was just their seventh overall victory this season. They moved to within seven points of their hosts, the same gap that existed between the sides when Craig Levein took over in Perth in early November last year.

Despite significant surgery to the team in the January transfer window, Hibs’ defensive failings struck again and the players looked genuinely shellshocked as they left the field at full time to loud boos from the furious supporters who had stayed behind after the final whistle.

The most vociferous of those jeers were aimed in the direction of manager Nick Montgomery, who trudged round the three stands to applaud the fans as he does after each match. It can’t have been a pleasant experience for him. This wasn’t the first time this season he’s made the ‘walk of shame’ – the response from the support was reminiscent of the reaction at full-time following Hibs’ chastening defeat to St Mirren back in February.

It is hard to see a way back for any manager when things reach the point of fans hanging back to berate the manager rather than slip away from the stadium to drown their sorrows in the nearby pubs. Monty has no credit in the bank with the support, even the most patient of fans are rapidly losing faith in the wake of another abject performance from Montgomery's side.

Michael Stewart commented on the BBC after the match that Montgomery hasn’t had a ‘statement win’ in his time at Easter Road. Truth be told, he hasn’t had many wins full stop, and that’s a bigger problem than the lack of a statement win. Eight wins this season from 28 league games under Montgomery is an awful return, and while there have been mitigating factors – a slew of frankly bizarre refereeing calls going against Hibs, injuries, and key players away on international duty - is that really enough to say we should write off defeats to sides who would love to have international players in the first place?

You might find a more sympathetic support if the football on show was scintillating, edge-of-your-seat stuff but it’s a million miles from that. Saturday’s match was a must-win game to keep us on track for the top six, and our ambitions beyond that, yet the team started with a lethargy that has been evident on far too many occasions this season.

Other than being involved in a strong penalty shout for Hibs (see earlier point about bizarre refereeing decisions), Dimitar Mitov in the Saints goal had no meaningful involvement in the first half, and it was only really after Hibs went behind – to a goal that you’d be angry with a school team for conceding – that they finally looked likely to trouble St Johnstone.

We equalised through Chris Cadden and it felt like we might go on to win the game. Instead, the visitors took the lead from a corner awarded after Jordan Obita sliced a clearance out of play. It was St Johnstone’s second shot on target and their second goal but it felt like a re-run of so many games this season. 

The frustration is understandable from the supporters, this has been a season of false dawns and disappointments. It feels like every time it looks like we’re on the cusp of something good it turns out to be the opposite, like running into the tunnel that Wile E. Coyote has painted on a mountain to bam up the Road Runner.

It’s hard to say what Ben Kensell and Ian Gordon will do next. Failure to make the top six will be a hammer blow to their ambitions and will mean that investment from the Black Knights won’t stretch as far as it would with the money that the top six and potential European football brings. In many people’s eyes, a bottom-six finish should be the cue to part ways with the manager but a fourth managerial change in relatively quick succession will justifiably have fingers pointing to Kensell and his record on the field at Hibs.

Despite a very impressive commercial performance, failure to make the top six on Saturday would be the second time in three seasons that Hibs have missed out – and last season’s top-six finish was achieved after Hibs had failed to do their part on the day the league split, only creeping in thanks to results elsewhere.

The performance on the pitch isn’t good enough; Kensell is ultimately accountable for that and he would be the first to admit that the club aren’t where we want to be. We shouldn’t be scrambling about for snookers to help us out for a top-six place with the resources we have. This is a club that has run up over £5m in debt chasing sporting success over the last two years.

We shouldn’t discount the possibility that we do haul ourselves over the line on Saturday and tee up an unlikely, but not totally out of the question, strong end to the season. That is everyone’s ideal situation as it should quieten the noise around the manager and CEO’s future for the time being, at least.

Here’s hoping things go our way this week, and it’s the latter scenario that plays out.