Nottingham Forest spent the years before Steve Cooper arrived searching for lightning in a bottle.
There was failure in terms of results and failure in the transfer market as they bumbled along in the Championship, periodically challengers, periodically chumps for over 20 years. Then Cooper arrived soon after Dane Murphy and the strong financial backing of owner Evangelos Marinakis was harnessed. Years of going from manager to manager finally paid off.
Every fan knows what happened at Wembley after Cooper joined with the club on its knees. Promotion could not come soon enough for supporters but in a football sense it happened way ahead of schedule.
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Financial Fair Play and parachute payments meant Forest had built a team to get into the Premier League, but totally unprepared to play there. The debate around transfers is a well trodden one. They had to happen. Maybe Forest signed a couple too many players, maybe they didn't, but change had to happen.
In the last three games, particularly the last two, Forest have looked like a team with 22 new signings. Shorn of collective experience and cohesion they have blown leads at home in worrying fashion against Bournemouth and Fulham, the two teams who came up with them.
In many ways Cooper is the victim of his own success. Errors are inevitable but there has to be a balance between accepting and correcting. Fans often said low moments were expected but to see them unfold has been painful.
Two weeks to stew on the Bournemouth loss is now followed by two weeks to stew on Fulham. So what next?
There will be a demand for change in both personnel and formation. Cooper is in a tough spot though. There is a need for consistency to bring cohesion but also a need to look at all his options and work out which suits his players best. It is hard to have both together. He still can't know his best XI and how to knit good individual players together.
The main areas of concern right now seem to be central defence and central midfield, although there are others. At the back, Steve Cook has been in and out then against Fulham it was Joe Worrall, the captain, who was dropped. We are yet to see Loic Bade.
Moussa Niakhate has been a big miss. He looked the real deal in his early appearances but has been named in the Senegal squad for the first time, a promising sign he will be back after the international break.
Of all Forest's summer signings, Niakhate and Orel Mangala look to be the ones they stole a march on other sides to land from the Bundesliga. Both look to have real potential at this level and Mangala's return can't come soon enough, although expectations must be tempered of a player coming off the back of injury after a limited pre-season.
Against Fulham, Forest had five minutes of madness when they conceded three times, unable to get a grip of the game, especially in the centre of the park.
Perhaps 4-3-3 is the way to go to get an insurance policy in the middle of the pitch, but Neco Williams and Renan Lodi have stronger attacking instincts than defensive. Lewis O'Brien certainly came on and did more than enough to suggest he should be back in the starting line-up regardless of formation.
Cooper goes into the international break with plenty of questions and an incredibly tough job on his hands, but if they can find answers then games against Leicester City, Aston Villa, Wolves and Brighton could yet be fruitful. That will be easier said than done with plenty of players representing their countries.
This week marks a year since Cooper's arrival. A year ago Forest were bottom of the Championship with a toxic atmosphere in the stands. Chris Hughton's reign was a painful one before Cooper transformed the football club to be where it is now along with those around him.
Right now further transformation is not needed. It has already happened with so many new signings. Now is the time for fine tuning, to ensure five minutes of madness do not happen again.
Forest are far from adrift at the bottom with time on their side, but the clock is ticking.
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