Ireland manager Mick McCarthy is today facing a battle to hold on to his job following his side's 2-1 home defeat against Switzerland in a Euro 2004 qualifier.
The defeat, coming after the 4-2 drubbing against Russia in Moscow, leaves the Irish facing a long, uphill battle to qualify for the finals in Portugal.
With the Roy Keane World Cup fiasco still ringing in his ears, the 43-year-old McCarthy was under attack on several fronts. But he insisted after the Swiss defeat that he would not walk away from a job he has held for six and a half years.
Ireland's next competitive match is not until the end of March, when they face a double-header in Georgia and Albania.
"It is even harder than it has ever been to turn it around. We need to win games," said McCarthy. "We face an uphill task to qualify now but I shall tackle it head-on and try to improve performances. I'll go away and analyse the game.
"It is not easy times and it is even harder when you come in after five months on the back of a defeat and have to go to two tough places in a week, Georgia and Albania. You have to do the best you can," he said.
"The reaction of the crowd was always going to happen if we got the wrong result. What I can't get my head round is that we have gone from the heights of our performances in the World Cup to a standard far, far lower".