Before Ireland were shocked at home by Luxembourg, Stephen Kenny had presided over nine games in charge of the national team since his first match in September.
And despite the fact that Ireland had not won even one of those nine games, and had scored just three goals in the process, it would appear that the manager was pretty content with his side's progress as he looks to introduce a new style of play to the team.
Six Nations League games yielded three draws and three narrow defeats, however, every performance certainly showed signs of the positivity of the work-in-progress, which was all geared towards making an assault on qualifying for the Qatar World Cup next year.
The performance that Kenny always pointed to was that Euro 2020 play-off in Bratislava where his side took on Slovakia on their home patch and dominated the play and the possession, before getting cruelly undone in a penalty shoot-out.
The World Cup campaign started in Serbia, and while Ireland returned empty handed, the manager believed that his side’s performance even surpassed that of Slovakia, such was the way his team competed with a very strong European nation.
But then one moment of quality by Luxembourg appears to have undone all his side’s hard work, and while the manager is trying to remain upbeat, he accepts that the criticism was bound to flow once that particular result occurred.
"If you lose to Luxembourg you have to accept the criticism," said Kenny, speaking at today's pre-match press conference.
"We lost to Slovakia on penalty kicks away after a really top-class performance. Against Serbia we showed what we were made of and lost 3-2.
"We played 3-4-1-2 against Serbia and thought it worked brilliantly. I thought it was one of the best displays by an Irish team away from home in recent years and we played very well, lost a narrow game.
"The big let down for us has been losing to Luxembourg."
The manager has looked back on Saturday’s game, where he insisted that his side dominated possession, but were unable to capitalise on key attacking moments.
And while he noted that Luxembourg have improved dramatically in recent years, he accepted that the home tie was one that Ireland should have won. However, he also pointed out the fact that he felt that his side did not deserve to lose the match.
"Against Luxembourg, we have dominated a lot of possession but in the final third we had a lot of situations where it was four v three, situations where we could overload and maximise the situation and we didn’t do that.
"We didn’t create enough clear-cut chances for the possession we had and that was an issue for us.
"We definitely didn’t deserve to lose the game.
"It’s a home game against Luxembourg and we are expected to win. I respect that. We didn’t deserve to lose but we must do better. There’s no doubt about it."
Going into the Luxembourg fixture, the manager spoke about how there was a real sense of camaraderie in the camp in the absence of any Covid cloud, saying that morale was high despite losing the opening game in Belgrade.
But that Lansdowne Road let-down will have hurt the players, and their thoughts on the game will have been well articulated afterwards by captain Seamus Coleman, who said that they were embarrassed by the performance and the result.
"Looking back on it, we definitely didn't deserve to lose the game"
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 29, 2021
Stephen Kenny reflects on the loss to Luxembourg and also speaks about whether he will have to change the system in the absence of wing backs Matt Doherty and Enda Stevens: https://t.co/qKu9pUg2t5 #RTESoccer pic.twitter.com/im8I7OpgPJ
Responsibility will now fall to the manager to raise spirits once again, and he will be thankful to get the opportunity to do it so soon after the shock loss to Luxembourg as the team travelled to Hungary for the Qatar game tomorrow.
"We want a good performance," said Kenny.
"Qatar have beaten the other two teams this week - Luxembourg and Azerbaijan - and they won the Asia Cup, beating Japan, to their credit.
"They were in the Copa America in a group with Argentina and Colombia and they have done very well overall.
"It’s a good game and we want to make sure we are ready. A lot of players are getting vital experience and that’s important and we want to put in a good performance.
"We are all aware that it is a huge disappointment to lose that game the other night, so we want to finish on a better note."
The manager’s immediate focus, of course, is trying to salvage what is left of his side’s World Cup campaign.
However, Kenny still believes that the future of Irish football is bright, and made a point of referencing the quality of the young players that have been introduced to the squad. Players, he believes, will have big futures in the game at both club and international level.
"I'm very determined that we will improve and get it right," said Kenny, when asked whether this short-term pain will help young players come through in the long term.
"We've just had a real kick in the teeth losing to Luxembourg and I understand, because World Cup points are so sought-after and hard-earned.
It's not just long-term, I think we can be good in this campaign
"It would be too easy for me to say that we'll have long-term success with this, but what I will say is that all of those players coming through, a lot of them are very talented.
"There are some suggestions that they'll all end back playing in Ireland and that they're not that talented. All those players that have come in, Dara O'Shea, Jason Knight, Jayson Molumby, Aaron Connolly, Caoimhin Kelleher, Gavin Bazunu, all of those players, they will all have good careers at the top level.
"They are going to be good players for Ireland in the future an they are talented players, and you will see them blossom.
"But I do think it's not just long-term, I think we can be good in this campaign."
Follow Qatar v Republic of Ireland via our liveblog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ2 or the RTÉ Player and listen to live commentary on RTÉ 2FM's Game On
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