Being hammered by Celtic is one thing - being hammered by a team like Falkirk (with all due respect - and I'm sure their fans would feel exactly the same if we dished out a gubbing) is simply not acceptable. The game was as good as over after 15 minutes, despite some bright spells in the second half, and the defending was nothing short of atrocious.
There is an easy excuse for what went wrong. Will Haining's suspension meant John Potter came in and, along with the rest of the back four, he was poor. Haining was badly missed - although his heavily pregnant wife Michelle Marsh could probably have done a better job in defence than any of the folk who played.
For the second week running Saints conceded an early goal. Pedro Moutinho was gifted possession and somehow stumbled his way past a few Saints defenders - even having time to claim for a penalty - before slotting the ball past Smith from close range.
In one of the few amusing moments of the afternoon, Andy Millen seemed to elbow Graham Barrett. The Falkirk player went to ground and stayed there for a few minutes before the physio came on. Clearly their physio is excellent - before he'd even got to Barrett the forward was up looking to confront Millen.
Sadly, that was as entertaining a moment as the first half would see from a Saints perspective, and after 13 minutes they were two down. Michael Higdon flicked the ball on to Steven Thomson, who controlled with one foot before firing a superb volley passed Smith for a fantastic goal.
Higdon could have added a third just after when he nodded a Gerard Aafjes cross just over the bar, before Saints twice went close to getting a goal back in the space of a minute. First, Chris Birchall somehow completely missed the target with a free header from Billy Mehmet's cross, before Mehmet himself forced an excellent save from keeper Tim Krul with a powerful effort.
It was after this that MacPherson made an uncharacteristic early change, replacing Garry Brady with Mark Corcoran. Quite why he seems to think that the likes of Brady and, to a lesser extent, Richard Brittain, are capable of playing on the wing when they are central midfielders is a mystery - but I suppose we shouldn't be surprised by much of what Gus does these days.
Thomson went close to adding his second and Falkirk's third when Higdon flicked on another free kick, but his finish was weak and Smith saved it.
Higdon then picked up a booking for moaning before Falkirk got their third just before the break. Aafjes' cross went across the box and found the unmarked Moutinho at the back post, who crashed the ball past Smith. Where the hell was David van Zanten, who was supposed to be marking Falkirk's left winger?
Saints were quite rightly booed off at half time, but whatever MacPherson said at half time seemed to have some effect. van Zanten had a tame shot saved by Krul before Birchall's cross from the byline was brilliantly finished off by Mehmet. Game on!
Sadly, a few minutes later Birchall was lost to injury, being replaced by Stephen McGinn - another central midfielder replacing a winger, although in fairness McGinn has played reasonably well while out wide in the past.
Mehmet received a booking for a foul before Saints really started messing about at the back, Millen giving away a needless corner when he dallied over the ball. Then we saw one of the few poor pieces of refereeing all afternoon. Higdon flattened van Zanten but, because he was already booked, received no card. It was a blatant booking and he shouldn't have been off - not that it would have made any difference.
Miranda very nearly cut the deficit to one with a brilliant free kick that hit the bar, but Falkirk were always looking dangerous on the counter attack. At times they almost had too much time or too many options, such was the awfulness of the Saints defending. The closest Saints went to getting another one back was a looping effort that Krul just tipped over.
In the last ten minutes Falkirk added two more goals. First, Moutinho was once again given time and space by van Zanten to swing a ball in, and Barrett strolled past two Saints defenders to head the ball home. Then, a long punt forward found sub Carl Finnigan a good few yards onside, despite what some Saints fans thought, and he rounded the onrushing Smith to add the fifth and complete the misery.
A terrible day, performance, team selection and the rest. You wouldn't have thought Saints were the home team, there was very little urgency and there were also some terrible set pieces - Franco's free kick aside. But the main problem was the defending.
Haining's back next week - which is just as well. It's Celtic at Parkhead!