Hibs were – with some justification – booed off the pitch after an abject Scottish Cup exit against second-tier Dunfermline.
David Gray must shoulder the blame for the Fife fiasco. His team selection meant that in each area of the pitch – defence, midfield and attack – he had a relatively unfamiliar line-up.
Jordan Obita, Rocky Bushiri and Warren O'Hora have all played in the same team, but the game-time they've had together as a back three is minimal.
Joe Newell made his first start in more than a year, joining Josh Mulligan and Junior Hoilett to make up the midfield three – again, the amount of time they have played together competitively is very low.
The front two of Kieron Bowie and Thibault Klidje wasn't quite in the untried category, but certainly fell into the untrusted one given Gray's reluctance to pair the strikers with any degree of regularity.
What followed was an incoherent and lacklustre display from Hibs. And while Gray can reasonably point to glaring misses from Bowie and Klidje, plus a penalty shout that would almost certainly have been given had VAR been in place, the reality is we got exactly what we deserved from the game.
The Scottish Cup was Hibs' last chance of silverware this season. And with the club's owners going on record recently to say the targets are European qualification and winning trophies, a lot now rests on Gray securing a strong finish to the league campaign.
He'll hope for reinforcements to his squad before the window closes and the pressure should be on Hibs' recruitment team as much as the head coach when it comes to salvaging a season that's in real danger of turning into a damp squib.
You can find Matty Fairnie at Longbangers podcast
