THERE was much chatter before this match centring on that aspirations of both managers but the mood music was playing a very different tune for both at full-time.

Reputations are forged over whole careers and not in just 90 minutes but this richly-deserved victory for Kilmarnock may have more lasting consequences for their caretaker manager, Lee McCulloch, than it will for opposite number Tommy Wright.

Wright had confessed that he would "take a call" from Rangers should one be forthcoming over the Ibrox dugout vacancy, and what he branded as the worst 45 minutes he had ever witnessed should not have affected the probability of his phone ringing.

However, in contrast, as McCulloch awaits a decision on his chances of replacing Lee Clark on a permanent basis, there was much to admire about Kilmarnock as they eased aside their hosts with surprising simplicity.

They were aided by some alarmingly calamitous defending for Rory McKenzie’s superb 11th-minute opener and Saints keeper Zander Clark was again at fault for Conor Sammon’s second-half header that opened his account following his loan move from Hearts in January.

McKenzie, though, believes McCulloch is deserving of as much praise as he himself will get for a magnificent 40-yard lob that sent Killie on their way to just a second win from their last dozen matches.

“As far as I know he doesn’t know what’s happening, so he’s just taking it a game at a time,” commented McKenzie. “But a win on Saturday can’t do him any harm.

“When Lee Clark left we were in good form and we know Jig [McCulloch], he’s been here for a while now, so it was an easy transition.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to call him Jig. I did in an interview the other day and I thought ‘I might get into bother here!’. He’s not actually asked to be called gaffer yet, so it’s Jig just now.

“If the caretaker role changes I won’t be calling him Jig, that’s for sure!”

When Clark miscued in clearing a Steven Anderson pass back and the ball landed kindly for McKenzie there was still much to be done. However, the 23-year-old showed brilliant poise and precision - and he revealed an awareness aided by skipper Kris Boyd - to flight his return into the unguarded net.

“As it was coming to me I wasn’t actually going to shoot at first,” he explained. “But, just before the ball came to me, I heard Boydy shout ‘hit it’, so I just put my boot through it.

“As soon as I hit it he said ‘that’s in’ but, from where I was, I thought it was going over the bar. Then I saw it bounce and hit the net. It took forever. I honestly thought it was going over the bar.

“It was a surprise to hear Boydy say that. He’s the boss and he usually wants you to pass him the ball. But he made my mind up for me.”

Saints, on the occasion of their 132nd anniversary, were stirred by Wright’s half-time scolding but their improved performance never looked like earning them anything tangible. If Killie’s first goal summed up what Wright branded a ‘brutal’ first-half from Saints, their second was no more than they deserved. Jordan Jones slung over a cross from the left and Sammon rose to nod down and through the despairing clutches of a disappointed Clark at his near post.

With Hearts losing, it was a missed opportunity for the Perth outfit, who would have gone into fourth with a victory and to within three points of Rangers, who they play on Wednesday night.

“There have been times when jobs have opened up and the gaffer’s name has been put forward,” said Brian Easton, who penned a new two-year deal last week. “The boys talk about it but we have more of a laugh about it and a few jokes. Like me, all the boys hope he will be here for a while yet.

“No doubt, one day somebody will come, offer him a good job and he might be ready to move on as he has done really well here. But hopefully he sticks around for a while longer and we can pick up results starting on Wednesday night.”