Having received a vote of confidence from owner Evangelos Marinakis last week, Steve Cooper would have been hoping for a response from his Nottingham Forest side against Aston Villa on Saturday.
However, the Forest boss got exactly the opposite. The Reds were comfortably beaten at Villa Park courtesy of second-half goals from Bertrand Traore and Ollie Watkins as they dropped back into the bottom three.
It was a damning afternoon for the visitors, who had just two shots on target and recorded 34 per cent possession, with errors costing Cooper's men in the defensive third. Jonjo Shelvey gifted Traore his second goal in as many matches with a sloppy pass, while some slack defending allowed Watkins to dink home late on.
The result moved Forest down to 18th after Bournemouth's 1-0 win at Leicester and leaves them in real danger of an immediate return to the Championship. But what has gone wrong?
Forest recruited 23 new players last summer on their return to the top-flight - and it is safe to safe the majority of them haven't jelled and hit the ground running at The City Ground. Apart from Morgan Gibbs-White and Dean Henderson, the rest have either failed to impress or been injured and not available for the majority of the season.
Cooper added a further seven in January to take the overall tally up to 30 - the most incoming transfers a club has done in a single Premier League campaign ever. Danilo and Felipe have both done well since their moves in the winter window, but the likes of Chris Wood, Andre Ayew and Shelvey have struggled, with the former now out for the season.
That means just a handful of those signings can be described as 'successful' buys - and it's that success rate which could end up costing them Premier League survival. Forest do have an advantage to the teams around them, however, in that their home support and form has been terrific.
They have the 12th-best home record in the division, having collected an impressive 21 points from 15 games. The Reds have made The City Ground a fortress, with Manchester City, Liverpool, Brentford, Aston Villa and Chelsea amongst those to drop points at Forest so far this season.
Their form at home could be a saving grace for them as Forest are capable of beating anyone on Trentside, although the Reds do face Manchester United, Brighton, Southampton and Arsenal in their final four home matches.
If the Reds replicated their form at home on their travels, however, than they would be comfortably in mid-table and battling for European football. But Forest have simply been awful on the road - and post the worst away record in the top six tiers of English football with one win and three draws in 15 matches.
They have scored just four times and conceded 36 goals in the process - a shambolic return for a club that have spent almost £200million in the past 12 months. Forest's only victory came against Southampton on January 3, and with Liverpool, Brentford, Chelsea and Crystal Palace to come on the road, it doesn't look positive.
Forest's 2-1 defeat at Leeds on Tuesday placed serious doubts on Cooper's future, despite guiding them back to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years last season. It seemed like Cooper was heading for the sack - only for Marinakis to squash those rumours and confirm he will stay.
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He said last Wednesday: "No one denies that our Club is in a difficult position in the Premier League, but we wish to end the speculation and the false and disruptive reporting in the media to confirm that Steve Cooper remains our manager at Nottingham Forest.
"We have all been disappointed with recent performances and it is very clear that a lot of hard work needs to be done to address this urgently. Results and performances must improve immediately.
"Now is the time for everyone connected with our club, from us as owners, to the board, our supporters, backroom staff, coaches and players - to come together and fight to secure our status in the Premier League.
"There can be no time for distractions, rumours and speculation. There is only time for hard work, determination, a commitment from Steve and the players to getting the results we need and, of course, the continued magnificent support of the fans of Nottingham Forest."
Despite giving Cooper the vote of confidence, Marinakis did admit that "results and performances must improve immediately", meaning any further poor outcomes could put his job at risk.
The defeat at Villa won't have boosted Marinakis' stance on Cooper at all, and with Manchester United, Liverpool and Brighton in their next three, things aren't looking too positive for the former Swansea boss right now.
Following the 2-0 defeat at Villa, Cooper was asked about his future. He said: "I am not sure about that. It is not something I think about, in terms of the impact the result might have on what people are thinking.
"We just want to work as hard as we can and try to do a better job. We will review this, then prepare to play Manchester United on Sunday and commit to the plan for that game."
Forest are level on points with 17th-place Everton at the bottom of the Premier League table, with only Leicester and Southampton below them at the moment. It is looking bleak for both Saints and the Foxes, with the latter without a manager having been turned down by ex-Leeds boss Jesse Marsch.
Many believe it will be a straight shootout between Forest, Bournemouth and Everton for that final relegation spot - but Cooper will know he has a massive task on his hands to keep them in the top-flight. With eight matches to go, the 43-year-old will fancy his chances given what he has already achieved at the club, however.
