Ruud van Nistelrooy took no time whatsoever to get his first win as Leicester City manager, beating West Ham United 3-1 on Tuesday night for the club's first Premier League victory since mid-October.
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Van Nistelrooy was appointed as Steve Cooper's successor last Friday and watched their 4-1 defeat at Brentford on Saturday from the stands.
A day of recovery for Leicester's players on Sunday meant Monday was Van Nistelrooy's ONLY proper training session with his squad ahead of Tuesday's match.
"We've only had two days with the manager, one day on the grass with him!" said Conor Coady, the experienced 31-year-old defender who was brought into the starting XI by Van Nistelrooy for only his third appearance of the season.
"To listen to his ideas, to what he wants to do. He's given us a lot in meetings so we've been trying to take it all on board. Tonight was about showing that we believe in what we want to do with the new manager. The manager's been fantastic. It's a breath of fresh air."
Leicester won 3-1 thanks to goals from Jamie Vardy, Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka before a late consolation header by West Ham's Niclas Fullkrug. The victory came despite Leicester ranking inferior to their opponents in a number of statistics.
West Ham had 31 shots, their highest tally on record in a Premier League match. It's the most shots by a losing away team in a Premier League match since November 2010. The Hammers' Expected Goals (xG) tally was 3.09 in comparison to Leicester's 1.35, while West Ham had 55 touches in the opposition box compared to the Foxes' 19.
Van Nistelrooy knows he has a lot of work to do in the training sessions ahead.
"The three points, in the position we're in, are vital," Van Nistelrooy said. "Also with the others fixtures of this round we knew it was a big match for us.
"But West Ham were dominant. They had so many chances, so many shots. But our fighting spirit, our togetherness, got us through the game. It was a great night in the end."
Despite Van Nistelrooy claiming his side were dominated, Owen Hargreaves, the former Manchester United midfielder, believes Leicester's new manager is being too humble.
"Ruud will be beyond delighted," Hargreaves said. "Leicester defended well, they were compact and they hit West Ham on the break. The game plan was spot on.
"Sometimes stats lie. Leicester were by far the better team, despite what the stats say. The goals West Ham conceded were identical, their defence was too high."
Lopetegui: A hard day for us
The result lifts Leicester up to 15th, only one place below West Ham, who have now lost back-to-back matches, conceding eight goals in the process.
"My main feeling is frustration. Because we lost and we deserved much more," head coach Julen Lopetegui said. "We had 31 shots. It's incredible... It's a hard day for us.
"But I can say nothing today on the behaviour of the players. They fought until the end. With this kind of behaviour for sure they are going to get many wins."
When asked about any pressure on him, Lopetegui said: "The only thing I'm worried about now is to go tomorrow to the training session and to prepare for the next challenge."
West Ham now turn their attention to a run of fixtures that could make or break their Premier League season, starting with a home match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Lopetegeui's former team, on Monday 9 December.
"It will be massive for them [the Wolves game]," former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison said.
"I don't think West Ham will be in the relegation fight come the end of the season, but they're not out of it [at the moment]. You see their next six matches - wow, they're some big matches."
