Graham Murty was fighting back the tears as he spoke to Sevco’s in-house television service after losing at Dundee.
A week ago the former Reading journeyman was preparing himself to take caretaker off his job title and bask in the glory of three successive wins in front of an adoring Ibrox crowd.
“Dundee, Hamilton,” start a line in a song much loved by Ibrox fans as they celebrate their cultural hatred and intolerance but for Murty they are words that will haunt him forever.
Two victories against clubs that had aggregated just five wins in the Premiership wasn’t asking the earth but despite all his coaching theory Murty couldn’t achieve that.
As he woke up this morning to dig out a coaching and management manual the Ibrox caretaker will see the shadow of Derek McInnes looming large.
Two defeats from Aberdeen could leave Sevco 12 points behind McInnes’ side as the reality of a tribute act built on sand implodes in the most public manner.