Chucked it?
It depends what your definition is, I suppose.
For some it would be wilfully downing tools.
For others it would be a meek acceptance of your fate, even if it’s subconscious.
The St Johnstone players didn’t do the former in Paisley – I’m convinced of that – but the evidence of the latter was overwhelming.
They were a beaten team as soon as St Mirren went 2-0 in front a couple of minutes into the second half.
You could maybe even say they were a beaten team as soon as they conceded the first goal.
If that meets the “chucked it” threshold, then so be it.
This isn’t a time to be looking up dictionary meanings anyway.
The semantics of Steven MacLean’s post-match assessment are a side issue.
It’s the substance of the situation that has red lights flashing for Saints and their chances of staying in the Premiership under whoever will be his successor.
Issues across the pitch
Just when you thought a corner had been turned, a host of problems are back in play.
Start at the back of the team.
Switching to a central defensive three had given the side more solidity against Livingston and Aberdeen.
One goal was conceded and that was a controversial penalty.
But the St Mirren match was a catastrophic lurch back to the days of cheap goals and shocking individual errors.
James Brown endured an afternoon to forget and you can certainly question the wisdom of putting him back into the starting line-up as Drey Wright’s replacement given his early-season struggles and other available options.
But Brown wasn’t the only one whose positional sense and decision-making deserted him in the heat of battle.
The central midfielders picked up where they left off at Pittodrie, stroking the ball about quite nicely in the opening half-hour.
However, there was an element of St Mirren being quite happy letting Saints play in front of them, confident they wouldn’t be cut open.
And, as the match progressed, the protection the men in the middle have been giving the backline of late evaporated.
Runners weren’t tracked with the same vigour, holes weren’t being plugged.
Fight-backs don’t happen
Even if you strip away the mistakes, the deteriorating body language and the energy drop-off – all of which can realistically be addressed by the time Kilmarnock visit McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night, with Alec Cleland in temporary charge – there are two problems that are deep-set.
Scoring goals and an ability to fight back.
Although Saints were on top in this match, for those 35 minutes of relative control they didn’t look like scoring in open play (or from a set-piece for that matter).
And to find the last time a Perth team conceded first and beat an 11-man opponent, you have to go back to March, 2022 and the Callum Hendry wonder goal winner.
If you score first against St Johnstone and don’t get a player sent off, chances are you’re not going to lose.
How Saints respond to the withering critique of their second half Saturday output from the man who has just lost his job will, of course, be a short-term sub-plot.
How Saints are going to be transformed into a side that can score more goals than their opposition and ingrain the required fight to respond to adversity over the long-term are far more fundamental concerns.
Conversation