Tam McManus felt the writing was on the wall for Jack Ross when his captain and vice captain were sent off at Livingston on Wednesday night.
Losing in West Lothian was bad enough for Hibs and their beleaguered boss, who was sacked in the wake of a run that had seen them take just four points from their last nine league games.
But the former Easter Road striker believes the indiscipline shown by Paul Hanlon and Paul McGinn in the closing stages of the match underlined a deep-rooted problem that pointed to an inevitable outcome for Ross and his assistant John Potter.
“I was there for Hibs TV and it was a horror show,” the Hibs Record Sport columnist insisted.
“The performance was bad enough, really poor in fact, but when I saw McGinn and Hanlon getting sent off I really feared for Jack.
“I’m not saying for a minute these two players cost him his job. But they are the captain and vice-captain. They are his leaders on the pitch and you are looking for them to set examples - not make a terrible situation even worse by picking up second yellow cards when they were already on bookings.
“Hibs’ discipline went in the closing stages. That’s on Jack but it’s also on the players.”
Record Sport understands Ross told the players in the dressing room on Wednesday night he might not be around for the following match against St Mirren in Paisley tomorrow.
That prediction was borne out when the axe fell yesterday morning, with David Gray being placed in temporary charge of a team that has a Premier Sports Cup Final looming and a horrendous run of Premiership form to arrest.
McManus added: “I feel sorry for Jack, but at a club like Hibs - and Hearts and Aberdeen also fall into this category - if you pick up four points out of 27, you are going to be in trouble.
“That is relegation form, there’s no getting away from it. And with a squad of players as talented as Hibs have, it’s completely unacceptable.
“Having said that, I thought that the club might have given Jack at least until the cup final. Finishing third last season and getting to a final then and again this season shows he is a good manager and you don’t stop being a good manager because you go on a terrible nine game run.
“And what if the board has already made up its mind that a change was needed, had a candidate in place, but Jack went on to win the cup next week? That would have left them in a difficult position.”
McManus reckons the Hibs job is one of the most coveted in the country but also one of the most difficult.
“It’s a great club with great fans, but the expectation is always there. You have to win most weeks but there is also an expectation that you have to win with style. The last Hibs manager to tick every box was actually Tony Mowbray, which shows how tough it is.
“And whoever comes in will have to hit the ground running because this league form has to be turned around immediately. Perhaps a change of voice will do the trick. Let’s hope so.
“But ultimately, it’s down to the players. They have to be better than they’ve shown since they lost to Rangers at Ibrox after being a goal up and having Ryan Porteous sent off.
“Since then, the league form has been awful. You don’t get away with one win and a draw in nine league games and they didn’t even get a lift from the one game when they did play really well - the day they beat Rangers in the cup semi final.
“That should have been a massive turning point but a few days later they went to Dingwall and got turned over by Ross County and they were back to square one in terms of confidence.”
Hibs midfielder Joe Newell insists the players let Ross down - and that even before the axe fell on the former St Mirren and Sunderland gaffer.
Newell, speaking in the aftermath of the Livingston defeat, said: “It is completely on us as players. The coaches and the gaffer can’t call a timeout half way through the first half and get everyone in and regroup just because we have conceded a goal.
“It is on us as men and professional footballers to get a grip of ourselves and we didn’t do that, we just completely went. “Composure went, discipline went, and I’m not just talking about the red cards late on, I’m talking about general play.
“I’m talking about all of us, whether it be silly fouls, giving the ball away, it was just a bad, bad night.
we all feel sick in there because we know that we are letting him down, massively.
“I have been in changing rooms where you’re on a bad run and the lads are kind of whispering to each other, saying ‘you know what, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if the gaffer went now’ but there is not one player in there who wants this manager to leave or who wants the coaches to leave.
“I can’t reiterate enough how much the players take responsibility for this. It’s not the coaches, it’s not the gaffer, it’s all about our response and the way we react.”
