Aidan Smith: ‘Nessun Dorma’ means ‘none shall sleep’. Or, if you’re Hibs, none shall score

The previous two Hibernian managers, Jack Ross and before him Paul Heckingbottom, came and went without ever hearing “Sunshine on Leith” sung in celebration of a famous victory.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the best football anthem in the world was part of what attracted the current regime to the club. Clips of stirring renditions at Hampden and in Leith have gone right round Planet Football on social media, with even Kop-ites from Liverpool – holders of the title for top tune for what they thought was perpetuity – among those acknowledging its great emotional pull.

But at Easter Road, from Ron Gordon down, they must be getting impatient. The in-house DJ must be getting impatient every time – 7ins single half out of its sleeve in anticipation – the famous victory has failed to arrive. (I know the match-day music will all be digital now but that’s a better image, wouldn’t you say?).

At the moment in the league any old victory will do. Any old goal in fact. Three scoreless draws in a row is hud-me-back form as Hibs – and every other club – nervously wonder how the cost-of-living crisis will hit season-ticket renewals.

The Hibees are racking their brains for how to cure the shot-shyness. Last Saturday they slashed prices to a fiver a ticket – an admirable move in itself, but unsustainable in the long term – to provide a full house. There was “Sunshine on Leith”, too, sung opera-style, along with “Nessun Dorma”. Maybe the idea for that came from the YouTube clip where the goals from the 2016 Scottish Cup triumph have been set to Puccini’s aria. “Nessun dorma” means “None shall sleep”. Strikes were easy to come by in the Alan Stubbs era. For this team right now unfortunately, none shall score.

Back in the cup today, just about