Gray can walk away proud - now focus must shift to Mackay
· Yahoo Sports
It felt inevitable that David Gray's time was up long before the full-time whistle on Tuesday night.
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The atmosphere at Easter Road was as hostile as I can remember. It was clear that, for the Hibs support, this was one poor performance too many.
Hibs will lose to teams worse than Kilmarnock, but the manner of the defeat, coming after bafflingly poor displays in Perth and the Edinburgh derby (at least for the first 45 minutes), left Gray with no way back.
I'm gutted about it. Gray will always be a club legend and as head coach he made history in several ways, some more significant than others.
He led Hibs to consecutive top-five finishes for the first time in seven years, secured back-to-back European campaigns, oversaw three straight wins at Ibrox and ended a painfully long wait for a victory at Parkhead.
Add in the Christmas derby win that derailed Hearts' title challenge last season and Gray can be proud of what he achieved at the club.
However, the focus now needs to shift beyond Gray and towards the role Malky Mackay has played in the club's current situation.
The summer recruitment looked incoherent at best, leaving the squad short on quality and lacking options to change games from the bench. Gray can justifiably feel frustrated by the players he was given to work with.
The Gordon family should also be asking serious questions about whether the club is heading in the right direction.
The next managerial appointment is hugely important, not only for the team's future but also for rebuilding supporters' confidence. Right now, it's hard to say there is widespread trust the people making that decision are the right ones.