Lee Johnson bemoaned Hibs ' "fragility" during their 2-0 home defeat ro Ross County and shouldered the responsibility as they slipped to yet another loss.
George Harmon's goal in first half stoppage time gave County the lead after a fairly dire first half at Easter Road. Hibs huffed and puffed but created little and it came as little surprise when lex Iacovitti struck a second for the Staggies, ensuring the three points headed back up to the Highlands.
That's now five defeats in the last six for the Hibees. They've conceded 15 goals in the process and have gone from third to sixth in the table. They are in danger of becoming stuck in a real rut and with the Premiership action on hiatus for a month after the weekend, they'll have to wait a while for a chance to out things right should things go wrong at Kilmarnock this weekend.
"I felt for the fans, I felt for myself and I felt that we didn't do enough," said Johnson. "We know that and any criticism from that performance is absolutely fair. I'm not one to shirk the responsibility and it wasn't good enough.
"Let's be honest, we were nowhere near good enough in the final third. We let them off the hook too many times with poor crossing delivery. We work on that in training, they deliver good balls in training and for some reason, we come into games and it's not quite happening.
"Not enough players are on their game and obviously I haven't performed well either today. I take the brunt of it.
"it's always a collective and we're desperate to do well for the supporters. We have let them down, absolutely. Within those loses there have been some decent performances but still our fragility has come out. We've got to get through to this break and have that opportunity to bring players back from injury.
"Until then, we've got to be more resolute than we've been. I promise you, we're working all hours of every day to try and find the solution. That's why it's so disappointing today because the staff and players have pout in a hell of a shift over the last couple of weeks.
"I can only apologise. I promise we'll battle and continue to fight."
Opposite number Malky Mackay was delighted to pick up a second win on the bounce. And he was especially with pleased by how his players imposed their game on the Hibees.
"I'm delighted for the players because for the last few weeks, they've really been playing well," he told BBC Scotland. "They haven't quite been getting their just rewards. We played very well on Saturday knowing that coming tonight was going to be tough before going to Parkhead before the break.
"But to play the way we played and have the bravery to get on the ball so much in the first half, we made Hibs change and go full court press in the second half. It shows the confidence they;ve got at the moment."
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