So what’s the objective now then, Steve?

Jan 24 2010 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

Going into yesterday’s game against Swansea, they were 12th, with 32 points after 25 games, the last 11 of which were played under Strachan.

You do the maths.

Of course, beyond those harsh facts lie possible mitigating circumstances.

Chiefly, that Strachan’s rebuilding task is a work in progress while Southgate ended up merely trying to make the best of a bad job.

In other words, that Strachan’s problems are of Southgate’s making.

But that tallies neither with the numbers mentioned above, nor with performances.

It also takes no account of a questionable rash of recent signings.

Barry Robson may well prove a canny acquisition, but will he turn out to be a mere replacement for Gary O’Neill?

And Chris Killen and Willo Flood – six league appearances between them for Celtic this season?

In a season when Gibson was supposed to be dealing in sure things rather than outside bets, are they the players to kickstart a promotion push as things stand, let alone if Adam Johnson is sold?

Others insist that there are grounds for optimism in history. Namely, Strachan’s inauspicious start to his ultimately successful spell at Coventry City in the 1990s.

But the truth is that once he had put an initial five-game winless streak at Highfield Road behind him, results improved quickly and consistently.

Not now.

And, all the while, your thoughts return to Gibson, and the supposed necessity which prompted Southgate’s sacking.

And you wonder about the long-term consequences for Boro as a club – never mind Strachan’s immediate future – of that sacking proving in vain.

“My job is to make the hard decisions and to implement those decisions,” Gibson added in December. “We had papered over the cracks at the start of the season.”

That paper is not the only thing wearing thin.