It may have taken Sunderland an eternity to confirm Alex Neil's appointment, but the new head coach needed less than 36 hours in post to get a handle on the task ahead of him.
"If we want to be in the mix come the end of the season, we have got a lot of work to do," he said, after watching his side labour to a grim 1-1 draw at relegation candidates AFC Wimbledon.
He added: "To get to where we want to be, we have to be better than we were today."
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Neil also said Sunderland's play was 'naive' at times, and in the final 20 minutes it 'didn't look like we had enough legs to get around the pitch'.
He also pointed out the weakness in the much-trumpeted recruitment 'model' pursued by the club and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, which has left Sunderland with a curate's egg of a squad: heavy on promising young talent, but light on experience and match fitness.
January saw players of undoubted ability arrive on Wearside, but Patrick Roberts had played just 14 minutes of first-team football for French side Troyes this season, Jack Clarke just 45 minutes in the Europa Conference for Spurs, while 39-year-old Jermain Defoe had managed only nine minutes for Rangers.
All three are having to get themselves up to speed against the backdrop of a failing promotion challenge.
And it shows.
As a fresh pair of eyes coming in from the outside, it has taken Neil no time at all to identify the problems.
The question is, what can he do about it?
Because time is Neil's enemy.
The club's lack of any plan when they sacked Lee Johnson on the eve of deadline day meant two games came and went while the club dithered over appointing a replacement, and both ended in defeat.
That meant Neil arrived with only 15 matches remaining, and given that he had just one 40-minute training session to work with the players on the day they travelled to London to face Wimbledon, in reality the heavy lifting is going to have to be done in the final 14 games.
It has been a catastrophic fortnight for Sunderland, with just one point to show from four games against modest opposition meaning the club has gone from genuine automatic promotion candidates to effectively just one of six sides competing for a play-off place.
There has been the panicky sacking of Johnson in the wake of that 6-0 defeat at Bolton, the botched deadline day deals, the bungled head coach search, the lack of a 'safe pair of hands' as interim head coach, even the mishandled announcement of Neil's eventual arrival.
So, regardless of what happens in terms of promotion, there must be a serious review of the events that have taken place, with figures at boardroom and executive level held accountable for their failings.
As owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus bears ultimate responsibility for what happens on his watch.
And he needs to apply the same clarity of thought to off-field matters that Neil has brought to on-field affairs.
He must honour the vow he made in March last year to be 'open and transparent' with supporters.
For starters, he should clear up the mystery of who owns what percentage of the football club.
Why does this basic information need to be covered by a non-disclosure agreement? Whose interests does that NDA protect, and why?
Secondly, he needs to explain why, despite saying that the club had fallen victim to 'asset-stripping' by the previous owners, he has been pictured this week at a game sitting next to Madrox consortium member Charlie Methven.
Methven retained his small stake in the club when Louis-Dreyfus took over, but the new owner must understand supporters' strength of feeling towards him.
Many fans suspect that Methven continues to have influence behind the scenes, and when Louis-Dreyfus is pictured sitting next to him it does nothing to assuage those fears.
The ownership structure is opaque: transparent it is not.
At least Sunderland's on-field issues are there for all to see.
At Wimbledon, they were poor for a fourth game in succession.
The penalty from which Luke McCormick gave the Dons the lead was harsh in the extreme - awarded for a handball by Callum Doyle when Jack Rudoni blasted the ball against him from a yard away.
But Wimbledon later had a stonewall penalty waved away, so it was a case of swings and roundabouts.
And the hosts were the better side in the first half, with Anthony Patterson making two or three good saves to prevent further goals.
Alex Pritchard again showed his quality, scoring another brilliant free-kick just as he had in the midweek defeat at Cheltenham.
There were chances at both ends in the second half but neither side could make them count.
It was scrappy stuff, with referee Simon Mather dishing out cards right, left, and centre - seven yellows for Sunderland players, four bookings for the Dons and a late red card for McCormick who was sent off for a late challenge on Pritchard having already been cautioned.
The draw ended Sunderland's three-game losing streak, although it means the Black Cats have now won only one game in eight since going into the New Year as league leaders.
It was not the start that Neil wanted.
But after the shameful result at Bolton, followed by the dreadful defeats against Doncaster and at Cheltenham, it felt like a relief.
And perhaps that is the most damning thing of all.
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