When Christian Fuchs was named as Dave Hughes' successor at Rodney Parade in mid-November, few gave the former Austria international hope of keeping Newport County in the Football League.
The Exiles were rock bottom of League Two and found themselves five points adrift of safety when Hughes left the club in the aftermath of a woeful 1-0 loss to fellow strugglers Shrewsbury Town.
They had claimed just 11 points from their 16 league fixtures under the Welshman, at a rate of just 0.69 points per game.
Their home record was frankly abysmal, having collected just one point from their eight League Two outings in south east Wales.
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But while Newport still have a significant amount of work to do between now and the final weekend of the regular season on Saturday, May 2, the picture certainly appears a little brighter than it did little more than two months ago.
In 10 league fixtures under Fuchs - a Premier League winner with Leicester City in 2015-16 - Newport have collected nine points, averaging out at 0.9 points per game.
Taking only Fuchs' time as boss into account, Newport would sit 19th in the table, five points above the relegation zone.
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So, while the numbers are not a drastic upturn from Hughes' return, they certainly represent an improvement.
With 20 league matches left to play this term, Newport sit 23rd but now find themselves just a point adrift of safety.
On the back of Saturday's huge 2-1 win over promotion-chasing Chesterfield, Newport return to action on home soil against Accrington Stanley on Tuesday night, one of just three sides Hughes managed to beat.
Another win at home could lift Newport out of the drop zone for the first time under Fuchs, depending on other results on the same evening involving Bristol Rovers, Shrewsbury and Crawley Town, who all have to travel.
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Just four days after that, the Exiles make the short trip across the River Severn to face a Bristol Rovers side who currently sit just one place and one spot above them in the table.
It is also worth noting that the Gas have lost eight consecutive League Two matches at home and have been beaten in 14 of their previous 16 league fixtures in total.
"It's a big week coming up. We'll look to pick up more points to get us into a better position," said assistant boss Mark Smith.
Cameron Antwi's move to Gillingham and Leicester loanee Sammy Braybrooke's switch to a Chesterfield side who Newport beat last time out were unquestionably disappointing blows for the Exiles, but there are some real positives emerging elsewhere.
Michael Spellman netted against the Spireites having scored against Gillingham a week earlier to ensure he has scored in back-to-back matches for the first time in his senior career.
Central midfielder Harrison Biggins - a loan capture from Shrewsbury earlier this month - also got on the scoresheet on what was his home debut for the club against Chesterfield, with fellow January recruits James Crole, Tanatswa Nyakuhwa and Ryan Delaney also featuring.
Crucially, Newport now have their destiny in their own hands, according to Smith.
"We want to be in control of our own destiny and not be worrying about other teams' results," he added.
"The next step is to get out of the bottom two. For us, it's about getting the basics right and staying in control of things."
The Exiles are no strangers to upsetting the odds by pulling off miraculous escapes, and while still firmly in danger at present, the green shoots of recovery are at least now there for the Newport faithful to cling on to.
