A smiling Vitor Pereira arrived at the City Ground with his eyes open.
The new Nottingham Forest boss - the club's fourth of the season - was honest and reflective in his first news conference.
He was relaxed and ready but it was not lost on him - nor should it be - that job security at the City Ground is at a premium.
It is just 161 days since Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked, and Forest have gone through Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche before arriving at Pereira.
Quizzed on the longevity of managers the ex-Wolves head coach was pragmatic and understood the nature of his task: keep Forest up and owner Evangelos Marinakis happy.
He is back in work three and a half months after leaving Wolves to reunite with Marinakis, having worked with the Greek owner at Olympiacos in 2015.
It means there should be no secrets and surprises between the pair, and being able to understand the emotional Forest owner will be crucial.
Thursday's Europa League trip to Fenerbahce will be a different scene to what Pereira has been doing in the past few months, using his break to cycle, walk and eat in Portugal. He confessed he may need to lose a few kilos.
He has 12 games to ensure Nottingham Forest remain in the Premier League - an unthinkable situation when they were going for the Champions League on the final day of last season.