TOMMY Wright bristled visibly at the line of questioning he was met with following St. Johnstone’s stunning win over Rangers at Ibrox in the League Cup last Tuesday night.

The focus in the wake of an emphatic 3-1 victory which had propelled the McDiarmid Park club into the quarter-finals of the competition was firmly on the losers.

“I’m not too bothered about comparisons between the Championship and Premiership,” was Wright’s terse response to one query.

The inability of Mark Warburton’s team to even compete with, never mind overcome, the first rivals they had faced from the top flight was certainly newsworthy.

The Glasgow club’s fanbase is vast and the huge interest in the result, among both their own followers and those of other Scottish clubs, had to be satisfied.

Yet, it must have been galling for Wright that the quality of the performance he had orchestrated was, amid the extensive inquest into the first competitive defeat of Warburton’s tenure, quickly glossed over.

St. Johnstone did a number on Rangers. Their manager, not for the first time, got his game plan spot on. He identified the opposition centre backs as a weak link and attempted to exploit them. It worked a treat.

Goals from Murray Davidson, Simon Lappin and Michael O’Halloran in the first 46 minutes secured a triumph which will live long in the memories of their supporters. Had Steven McLean not missed an open goal from a few yards out in the first half the margin of victory would have been far greater.

It was the latest significant scalp which Wright has claimed since succeeding Steve Lomas two years ago and was another noteworthy achievement in the ongoing success story that is St. Johnstone Football Club.

Since winning promotion to the top flight six years ago – something which had taken them seven long and frustrating years to accomplish – the Perth outfit haven’t finished outwith the top eight. In the last four seasons they have been placed fourth, sixth, third and sixth and have, by one means or another, qualified for Europa League on every occasion.

Significantly, those finishes have all been attained while living within their means, without plunging into millions of pounds of unsustainable debt, under the astute stewardship of first local businessman Geoff Brown and then his son Steve.

St. Johnstone have consistently outperformed bigger and richer clubs with larger supports and more extravagant wage bills during that time. Their support is not as meagre as many would have you believe. In the 2014/15 campaign they attracted an average home crowd of 4,592 which was the fifth highest in the Premiership. However, few of our elite clubs have smaller budgets.

During the summer, St. Johnstone were linked with moves to sign both Kallum Higginbotham, whose contract with Partick Thistle had expired, and Brian Graham, who had spent a season on loan with them from Dundee United, on permanent deals.

That Higginbotham ended up at Kilmarnock and Graham joined Ross County would suggest that both of those clubs, hardly behemoths of our national game, can offer far higher levels of remuneration.

Wright deserves enormous credit for the competitiveness of his side given the resources he has to work with. He has coaxed the very best out of the players he inherited, not least Murray Davidson, Alan Mannus, Dave Mackay and Chris Millar, and has recruited well, with O’Halloran being the standout.

The 24-year-old winger had been rattling around the lower leagues in England for several seasons before he returned to his homeland last year. Now there may not be a quicker player in the Scottish game. He should command a seven figure transfer fee in the future.

Tactically, as we once again witnessed last week, Wright is outstanding. But his man management is also exceptional. He commands the complete respect of the McDiarmid Park dressing room.

The former Newcastle United, Manchester City and Northern Ireland goalkeeper can often come across as an almost avuncular character when interviewed. But his public image is misleading. Beneath the genial exterior there is a steeliness and a burning ambition.

The Ulsterman, of course, oversaw St. Johnstone’s historic Scottish Cup win over Dundee United last year. It was the first major trophy they had lifted in their 130 year existence. But that has not been an isolated success. The win over Rosenborg in Norway shortly after he had assumed control, for instance, was their first away from home in Europe.

His side, reduced to 10 men following the first-half ordering off of goalkeeper Mannus, came from a goal behind to triumph 2-1 against Dundee United at home on Saturday. That result brought an end to Jackie McNamara’s troubled reign at Tannadice.

Wright’s name wasn’t mentioned on the list of possible successors released by Ladbrokes over the weekend. Mixu Paatelainen, Billy Davies, Stuart McCall, Ally McCoist, Jimmy Calderwood and Darren Jackson are among the favourites for the post.

Wright is clearly, then, not as sexy as any of the aforementioned candidates. But he would be far from the worst choice to take over. If he was to be lured away, by United or another club, the chances are St. Johnstone would continue to prosper in his absence both on and off the park as a result of their ongoing professionalism.