The transition from one St Johnstone manager to the next over the last few years has been seamless.
To his credit, Tommy Wright has succesfully picked up from Steve Lomas, just as Lomas did from Derek McInnes. Top six football keeps coming, and so too do cup semi-finals.
Dig a bit deeper into season 2013/14, however, and the campaign that has around a month left to run is a bit different to all the rest since the Perth club returned to the top flight.
Under McInnes and Lomas, St Johnstone became renowned for their consistency very rarely a nine or 10 out of 10, and even more rarely a three or a four. Seven or eight was virtually always the standard.
It’s all been a bit less predictable this term.
The lows have been lower. But the highs have been higher. And it’s the second bit that should give Wright encouragement that League Cup winners and second-placed team in the Premiership Aberdeen can be defeated on Sunday.
“We have had some unbelievable performances this season 4-0 against Inverness and Ross County and 3-0 against Motherwell,” Wright pointed out.
“There have been some great displays and if we can tap into one of those we know we can win the game.”
Wright would be confident that he wouldn’t see a repeat of the 4-0 League Cup semi-final defeat to the Dons even if he put out exactly the same side in exactly the same formation.
But the addition of a few different faces from the Tynecastle starting XI will also give this re-match a different complexion.
Wright said: “It is the same squad but we have MacLean back, Dunne has come in, Mannus will be back and Croft has more games under his belt.
“We lost the game because we made too many mistakes and were punished by a very good side. I do feel with MacLean back in we are a bit stronger.
“I know it was 4-0 in the end but we had a lot of possession. We just made mistakes against a quality side who hurt us with their pace on the counter attack.”
Wright has also taken a different approach to their pre-match preparations for this one. Celtic’s Lennoxtown will be used for training on Saturday, and they will be staying in a west of Scotland hotel that night.
“We just tried to change it up a bit,” he noted.
“We didn’t stay over for the League Cup semi. Everything will be as low key as possible because the players know the importance of the game.
“They know they can create history by even getting to the final. I don’t think I need to be putting any other layers on that.”
It’s one of football’s most well-worn cliches, but scoring the first goal will be especially crucial in this game.
“If you go behind against Aberdeen they do make it difficult as they don’t give much away,” Wright admitted.
“But, the flip side is that if we score first then we don’t give much away either. We have been pretty solid most of the season and have kept 21 clean sheets.
“The first goal is going to be important, particularly in a cup tie and I’d rather we get it.”
If some of his players feel that being written off gives them added determination for Sunday, all well and good. The same goes for the longer serving players who have experienced several cup semi-final disappointments with Saints, and are looking to put that right.
Wright’s view of the game is less complicated though.
“The only motivation is to win a game of football and get to a final,” he pointed out.
“Some of the players might need extra motivation but I don’t think they do. The main thing is to win and create a little bit of history by winning the thing.
“We were only involved in the League Cup one as a team, and you can’t turn the clock back.
“Some of the players, Dave Mackay, Chris Millar and Steven Anderson have been involved in others, and I’m sure they don’t want to experience it again.
“They will use that as motivation because it is painful to lose a semi-final and get so close. This is a magnificent occasion and we have to make sure we keep our focus.”
You would think that getting to St Johnstone’s first ever Scottish Cup final, and possibly even winning it, would be surpassing expectations for the season.
Wright joked, though, that chairman Steve Brown has set the bar high.
“The chairman told me he wanted a cup from me in my first season as manager, so if we win it I’d only be meeting his target!” he recalled.
“I’d be delighted if we can get to the final and win it. But it’s not about me, it’s about the players here and the people associated with the club.
“The fans have had a lot of disappointments, the chairman has seen the team lose semi-finals and the players have been involved in them as well.
“They are a great bunch of lads and I don’t understand why bigger clubs haven’t come in for some of them. It’s the players who can get us to the final and the players who can win us the cup.
“I think what it means to managers is often over-hyped. I’d be most satisfied to see the players, the staff and the fans happy if we can do it.
“That’s what it’s really all about.”