Leeds United's appointment of Sam Allardyce, as has often been the case with any club that has looked for the 68-year-old in recent years, marked a desperate last-gasp attempt to ensure survival.
His teams in the past have been weak and underperforming, hence his acquisition of a 'firefighter' reputation, who comes in and calms down clubs in disarray.
However, he often gets afforded more time than chairman Andrea Radrizzani has handed him, given the fact he was welcomed with just four games left of the Premier League season.
The expectation that he could turn around a sinking ship like the Whites in such a small amount of time is painfully hopeful, and arguably even more desperate than any club that has ever appointed him previously.
For a team shipping goals and facing one of the toughest run-ins remaining, the hope is that at the very least this English football stalwart can steady the club and add an element of solidity after a run of five games without a win before his arrival, having shipped 17 goals.
Allardyce will have to call upon his best and most experienced defenders in order to do so, removing any culpable duds from his backline. He cannot afford mistakes to be the undoing of a potentially fine defensive display.
Therefore, perhaps Pascal Struijk could be set for a return to the side at left back, in a role he has featured in heavily in recent years.
How has Pascal Struijk played this season?
The Dutchman has often been forced into that left-hand side of a back four due to the fragility of Junior Firpo, who was branded a "liability" around this time last year by Mirror journalist David Anderson.
Meanwhile, just months before that claim, fellow writer Daniel Fraiz Martinez hailed an "absolutely monster defensive display" from the 23-year-old who has already played 93 times for the Whites.
Although his 6.79 average rating this season is far from outstanding, with his recent showings having underwhelmed too, he does boast a mastery of key assets that Allardyce will likely command.
Across this campaign, Struijk has recorded 2.9 tackles and 2.3 clearances per game, via Sofascore, which almost backs up TEAMtalk journalist James Marshment's claim that he is "a rock-solid defender" – not only this, but he is yet to make an error leading to a shot all campaign, let alone a goal.
In reigniting the struggling titan, who has dropped a rating of 6.1 or lower in each of his last three league matches, Allardyce would strike gold at the perfect moment.
This £50k-per-week colossus could well be the key to forging a back four capable of keeping out their final three opponents and completing the great escape, with big encounters against the likes of Newcastle United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur to finish the season.