“Trust the process” were the words used by Hibernian CEO Ben Kensell in a LinkedIn post, after Hibs secured the season-long loan of Mykola Kukharevych on Friday evening - words that carried an air of triumphalism that seemed woefully ill-advised when the full-time whistle blew in Paisley less than 48 hours later, bringing with it a 3-0 defeat for the Hibees in the Scottish Premiership opener as the fans were brought back down to earth with a humbling bump.

The season started with a performance typical of Hibs’ 2023/24 campaign: blunt in front of goal and generous to a fault at the back. St Mirren cruised to victory and defeat sparked a furious response from a large portion of the Hibs support.

Kensell took the brunt of it, his “trust the process’ statement begging the question: Just what is this process that we’re supposed to trust? Hibs had started with the majority of the team in place from last season, with the exceptions being Joe Bursik in goal, and the centre-half pairing of Marvin Ekpiteta and Warren O’Hora.

The process, it appeared, had left us dangerously under-prepared for the league season starting and fans were in no mood to let that perception go unnoticed by Kensell, while Ian Gordon also drew ire for his part in the mess – not helped, of course, by the “not listening” comments from minority shareholder, Bill Foley, in the wake of another humbling defeat in Kelty a few weeks earlier.

That fans’ fury seems to have lit a bit of a fire at Easter Road, with a flurry of incoming signings arriving at the club since the start of the week. Former Aberdeen winger Junior Hoilett was quickly followed by the surprise acquisition of Nicky Cadden, and on Thursday Hibs confirmed the signing of Keiron Bowie, arriving on a permanent transfer from Fulham for what Hibs described as a ‘significant’ fee.

I think most fans will accept that Hibs did not start the process of signing these guys on the back of an opening-day loss, but I would be amazed if the result and the response to it didn’t at least sharpen the focus and increase the resolve across the club to get the deals over the line.

With news of interest in Dundee’s Luke McCowan as well as Luton Town midfielder Allan Campbell, there is finally a sense that we are getting our act together. Regardless of whether we’re successful in bringing them to Hibs, the reported interest shows that sporting director Malky Mackay knows where we still need to strengthen, and the sort of standard we need to be aiming for.

If the signings hadn’t already lifted the mood, David Gray’s insistence that relations were good with the Black Knights despite Foley’s comments, and that he expected more to come from that relationship before the window closes, certainly helped. Of course, the proof of the pudding is always in the eating. There has been plenty of misplaced back-slapping for transfers over the last few years and the quality at the club has regressed, with Mackay pointing out that next season was the big opportunity to shape a new team as there were so many players out of contract at the club.

The bloated squad is a testament to the folly of Hibs’ transfer activity, and despite the excitement that new signings bring, there are many of us who have seen this movie before, and we’ll reserve judgement until we see how these players do in green and white before administering either back-slapping or backside-booting.

Of course, we want them to do well – the path of least resistance for everyone supporting Hibs is for those in positions of power at the club to find the magic formula to bring success to the club, whether that’s tangible in silverware or just signs of clear progress. There needs to be something to get the support back onside to such an extent that a horror-show like last Sunday doesn’t send the support into a frenzy.

We could probably do without the visit of Celtic this Sunday, but it might turn out to be exactly what we need. The players, whether new or old, will have to be at their very best to take anything from a Celtic side that swept Kilmarnock aside last weekend without breaking a sweat. Hibs, though, have a wee habit of putting a spanner in the works when it comes to Celtic, and Easter Road hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Brendan Rodgers.

We need a strong referee and a consistent VAR team if we’re to take anything from the game because a strong Hibs performance was scunnered by the officials last time out at Easter Road, so if we are to lose on Sunday, it needs to be because Celtic were the better team, and not that the officials have influenced the result.

Regardless, it’s going to be great to be back in my seat at Easter Road; the first home league game of the new campaign and with a standing section and new faces to cheer on it’s like being a kid at Christmas! Bring it on!