Rob Edwards got a close-up view of the job he faces trying to save Wolverhampton Wanderers from Premier League relegation as his first game in charge ended in a 2-0 home defeat by high-flying Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Wolves had held their own for more than an hour but goals by Daniel Munoz and Yeremy Pino gave Palace a deserved win which moved them into fourth position.
Edwards left Championship club Middlesbrough this month after joining them in June, swapping a promotion charge for a desperate relegation battle which is looking bleaker by the week for a Wolves side with two points from 12 games.
It is the first time Wolves have failed to win any of their opening 12 matches of a league campaign since 1983-84 when they finished bottom of the old first division.
There was a buoyant mood at Molineux before kickoff with home fans hoping the return of Edwards, who made more than 100 appearances as a player, might ignite the season.
By the end the mood was glum, though, as Wolves slipped nine points adrift of the safety zone and are the only team in English soccer's top seven tiers without a victory.
"Disappointed with the result," Edwards, who suffered relegation from the Premier League while manager of Luton Town, told the BBC. "Today was probably the story of the season. We needed to get the first goal of the game.
"We took the shackles off a bit after going behind but we needed to be like that when it was 0-0.
"It was never going to be a quick fix."
Palace still had to be patient for their opener and it came when a ball deflected into the path of Munoz who scored from close range. Pino wrapped it up in style for the visitors, curling in a beauty for his first league goal for the club.