As Duncan Ferguson trudged, solemnly, off the Goodison pitch he puffed out his cheeks.
When he took caretaker charge of Everton last time, the team had fallen into the bottom three after a loss at Anfield but as he suspected, this time around the task is more difficult.
The size of the job is not lost on him. There was no disguising this on his face or in the way he spoke afterwards.
Defeat to Aston Villa now makes it one win in 14 league matches and with Norwich City's win on Friday night at Watford, the gap to the bottom three is only four points.
And it's closing by the week.
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Big Dunc wore the worry and frustration of all Evertonians on his face at the full-time whistle. As he conducted post-match interviews, at pitchside, he did so to the backdrop of anti-board chanting from supporters who performed a sit-in protest.
They later moved to outside of Goodison's Main Reception, as fans confronted chairman Bill Kenwright.
Those same fans chanted his name too. Ferguson knows the fans will back him and the players during this arduous challenge of saving a season, for however long he is asked to do so.
Tonight, as he agonises over this defeat, at least he knows they are behind him. At least it's something to salvage from the wreckage of another loss.
Before Ferguson's return to the dugout he batted off the suggestion that the Blues are in a relegation fight but warned that results must be picked up soon otherwise they would be.
Everton are in a dogfight, right now, make no mistake. There remains, in the standings at least, four clubs worse off than the Blues but no side will be as bereft of confidence as the men Ferguson has taken charge of.
The Blues have said that the club hero will be caretaker boss for the "upcoming games".
Forget the FA Cup tie with Brentford, here, in two weeks' time, for now, and focus on the next league fixture: Newcastle United away.
It's a ginormous game. And however Ferguson does it, if he remains in situ for the trip to St James' Park, then he has to fill these players with the belief they can turn the season around.
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Attitudes were, rightly, questioned during the dying embers of Rafa Benitez's reign and fingers, it sounds, were pointed vigorously by Ferguson at Finch Farm this week, as he delivered some "home truths".
But perhaps the most sobering message came today, not from Big Dunc, but from the scoreline.
Effort, desire and determination were not the issue - the Blues were playing for Ferguson and trying to make amends - but there was, for too long, a lack of conviction and, painfully, quality too.
When Ferguson took the reins for that Chelsea game here, in the days after Marco Silva's sacking, Everton scored inside six minutes to set the mood for an afternoon that could not even be dented by an equaliser.
Goodison was with Big Dunc and the players today, make no mistake, but there was no early goal to light the blue touch paper, not even a flurry of early attempts or chances to keep spirits up.
The home fans had to wait until the second-half when, predictably already a goal down, Everton slowly began to take the fight to Villa.
But with only one shot on target through the 95 minutes, when Ben Godfrey's header was cleared off the line, it's crushingly clear that the Blues only took the fight so far.
DUNCAN FERGUSON: Everton caretaker boss sends message to fans who protested after Villa loss
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Yerry Mina both should have done better with chances that came their way but this was no sob story. This was the brutal reality of Everton's situation as they moved into the second-half of the campaign.
The horrors which lurk over royal blue shoulders right now are not lost on the fans, especially those who performed a sit in protest after the final whistle.
Farhad Moshiri offered effusive backing of the board on Friday, in an open letter to supporters, but those fans who remained inside of Goodison, holding up banners and chanting, think otherwise.
The people at the top of the club and, in particular chairman Bill Kenwright, were at the centre of their ire. Ferguson, who later emerged from the bowels of the stadium to speak in front of the cameras, had his name chanted by those fans. He saluted their support before backing, fully, their right to protest and voice their concerns.
Concerns everyone connected with Everton shares right now, especially Big Dunc.
He doesn't know for how long he will still be in caretaker charge for but, expects, the next two games.
The FA Cup game is important and another chance to build some confidence, but all eyes are on the trip to the North East.
Games with Leeds and Southampton follow. If Ferguson can succeed in reviving these players and giving the team some breathing space between themselves and the bottom three, then it will be no mean feat. Perhaps, the type of achievement that should hand him the reigns until at least the end of the season.
For certain, those angry and concerned fans, will stick with him for however long he stands in the dugout, that's for sure.
And as he tries to piece together the shattered confidence of the players, maybe that has to be at the heart of his message.
Because while Big Dunc, understandably, thanked the squad for 'giving him everything' here, they have to give more if Everton are going to drag themselves out of this mess.
That is the reality of it all.
And given that Ferguson has accepted this challenge amid the storm of fan anger, the likes of which has not been seen in years, makes the job this time all the more difficult.
He can do it. But his players need to show more than they did today. Much more.
