Sunday's narrow defeat to Rangers left St Mirren level on points with 11th-placed Kilmarnock and with deepening relegation worries as the club search for a replacement for departed manager Stephen Robinson.
The pressure is on in Paisley with only eight games to play, and the decision over who will take the reins will have a huge impact on the team's Premiership prospects as well as the upcoming Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic.
Former Saints player Ryan Flynn believes that after having faith with Robinson and seeing what he delivered over his four years at the club, the board will be looking for someone to take that on and progress over time – but the immediate demands of staying in the division have to be the priority.
"For me, it's got to be short term," Flynn told the Scottish Football Podcast. “You have to keep your status of being a Scottish Premiership side.
"The performances probably since the League Cup final win have not been good enough, time and again.
"There's no obvious candidate. I don't know where they're going to go.
"You don't want to be hiring and sacking managers, left right and centre. What are you looking for? Because they'll definitely be looking for a long-term vision, but really it's so short term."
Flynn wonders if the club might look down the divisions for a manager ready to step up, or bring back someone who already has a strong bond to give a quick boost.
"They've down the part-time route before with part-time managers with previous managers Jim Goodwin and Jack Ross," he added.
"But Stephen McGinn has been there recently. Could he go in? He knows the squad. He knows [interim coach] Craig McLeish. He knows how to maybe get a reaction and push them forward.
"Or a little bit further afield there's Diarmuid O'Carroll, assistant manager at Sparta Prague, who was working under Steven Robinson. Again, heknows the squad, knows the majority of the players and could he go and get a reaction?
"So they're in short term to react, produce and then they're the guys that are long term to build the club."
