IF rugby league’s hiring and firing process operated under the same principles of the gong show Saints boss Keiron Cunningham would have been handed his P45 on Monday morning.

The level of abuse directed at the 39-year-old boss and his team on Friday night gave a good indication of how high feelings are running among the supporters.

More than one fan was heard walking away from Langtree Park muttering about Royce Simmons’ departure early in 2012 and making comparisons.

That Cunningham was not “sacked in the morning” to appease those supporters, bitterly disappointed with another lacklustre performance, must mean that the board have faith that the man who won every honour in the red vee can transfer those skills to coaching.

Either that or they feel the squad that the coach has to work with this year just is not good enough to challenge the top teams and the noises are that this area will be beefed up.

Cunningham said he can understand the reaction of the fans, and although it will take more than promises to win them back, he has vowed to get it right.

He may find this battle tougher than anything he ever did as a player, even harder than smashing four Castleford bodies out of the way en route to that match-winning try in the Knowsley Road swansong, but this week he sounded determined and focused to succeed.

Since Daniel Anderson left in 2008, all successive incumbents in the coaching hot-seat have endured demands for them to go — so 'Potter Out' transferred into 'Simmons Out' and then the slogan was passed on to Nathan Brown, even weeks before he guided them to the 2014 Grand Final success.

Pressing the ejector seat button on the coach is a cycle Wigan went through in the early days of Super League when they realised they were not top dogs any more and flailed around trying to appease fans who could not come to terms with the new era.

And sometimes it is needed, but when it becomes the default position it just hinders building for the future.

And sometimes it covers up signs of deeper weakness. Potter, for example, got Saints to back-to-back Grand Finals with a squad that was a pale shadow of the one Daniel Anderson had in 2006.

If Anderson was here now then there is no doubt he would do some things differently, but the first thing he would probably do would be to bring in a big winger who can start and finish sets, a heavyweight prop and a tough tackling second rower.

It is no co-incidence that Hull FC's Lee Radford's coaching stock has risen with each and every NRL player they have bolstered the team with.

The level of hostility towards Cunningham is worryingly high – and it seems like it will take a monumental effort rebuild those bridges.

It is hard to recall an atmosphere like Friday’s before. Not even for the couple of 70-point Leeds defeats under Millward, the 65-12 Wigan loss under McRae or the 1982 home defeat by Castleford.

But unlike some coaches, who we have seen as broken men in similar circumstances, Cunningham seems confident and determined he can overcome.

And for the moment it looks like the board agrees.