On Tuesday night, West Bromwich Albion battled against all the odds to claim an unlikely point at Manchester City as Ruben Dias own goal earned the promoted side a share of the spoils.
On Wednesday, manager Slaven Bilic was sacked and replaced by Sam Allardyce with the Baggies second bottom of the Premier League table.
Harsh decision or necessary appointment? Matchday FM pundit Chris Coughlin looks at "Big Sam's" past Premier League rescue missions to see how much hope West Brom fans can have of avoiding the drop this season.
Blackburn Rovers (2008/09)
Crowned Premier League champions in 1995, the Blackburn squad of 2008/09 was a far cry from the likes of Alan Shearer, Chris Sutton and Colin Hendry.
Rovers had won just three of their 17 games so far that season under Paul Ince, which all came in the first six games of the campaign.
When Allardyce took over in mid-December, Blackburn were 19th, had just suffered six successive defeats in the Premier League, most recently a 3-0 defeat at Wigan.
Allardyce's impact was immediate as his first game saw Rovers beat Stoke City 3-0 at Ewood Park with all the goals coming in the first half an hour. That result helped to kick off the former Bolton manager's reign with a run of six games unbeaten in the top flight.
Having lost 10 times in their opening 17 league games of the season, Blackburn lost only seven of the next 21 including against Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
Allardyce is renowned for ensuring his side's are solid defensively to give them the biggest chance of survival and that style of play was evident at Rovers as, of the 60 goals Rovers conceded in the Premier League during the 2008/09 season, 34 of them came prior to Big Sam's arrival.
Position when Allardyce arrived: 19th
Position at the end of the season: 15th
Sunderland (2015/16)
Arguably the greatest of Big Sam's escapes.
When Allardyce was appointed manager at The Stadium of Light, replacing the adored Dick Advocaat, Sunderland were 19th, as Blackburn were in 2008.
The Black Cats, however, had just three points from their first eight games of the season and were yet to pick up their first win of the campaign.
That all changed in Allardyce's first game in charge as they swept aside North-East relegation rivals Newcastle 3-0 at the Stadium of Light before wins against Crystal Palace and Stoke City made it three wins from five.
Sunderland's good start under Allardyce was then threatened to be undone, as a five-game losing streak followed in which they scored just three goals which might not bode well for West Brom's survival hopes this term.
Sunderland recovered with wins over Aston Villa, Swansea and Manchester United as well as claiming a stoppage time point at Anfield to put themselves in the box seat for survival.
Their Premier League status was eventually confirmed with wins over Chelsea and Everton in the final three games of the season shortly before Allardyce left the club for his infamously short spell as England boss.
Position when Allardyce arrived: 19th (3pts)
Position at the end of the season: 17th (39pts)
Crystal Palace (2016/17)
After Allardyce's role as England manager ended after one match, Crystal Palace came calling in December 2016, just seven months after the Eagles reached the FA Cup final.
Alan Pardew was the man who guided Palace to Wembley but the former Newcastle and West Ham boss was dismissed with the club 17th in the Premier League, having won just four games so far.
Unlike with Blackburn and Sunderland previously, Big Sam's reign didn't bring immediate success.
After arriving at the club on 23rd December, it took until his sixth game in charge for Palace to collect three points with a 2-0 win at Bournemouth, having gained just one point from the previous five.
During January, however, Allardyce significantly strengthened the squad with Jeffrey Schlupp, Patrick van Aanholt and Luka Milivojević, all of whom are still regulars at the club now.
Four successive wins between February and April, including three successive clean sheets against Middlesbrough, West Brom and Watford, propelled Palace up the table before the biggest win of Allardyce's spell at Selhurst Park
A brace from Christian Benteke against his former club Liverpool saw the Eagles come away from Merseyside with a 2-1 win. That victory for Palace and Allardyce is made more significant by the fact that, to this day, that is the last time a visiting team left Anfield will all three points.
Palace then lost their next three games before securing their safety in the penultimate games of the season, beating Hull City 4-0 to relegate the Tigers in the process.
Everton (2017/18)
Allardyce's most recent Premier League appointment prior to West Brom saw his take charge at Goodison Park replacing Ronald Koeman who'd been sacked following a poor start to the campaign.
The Dutchman was dismissed after a 5-2 defeat by Arsenal, leaving the Blues 18th in the table with just two wins from nine games after a summer of spending following the departure of Romelu Lukaku.
Two wins in four games under caretaker boss David Unsworth meant Allardyce took charge with Everton thirteenth, still far from what the Toffees had envisaged at the start of the season.
Allardyce hit the ground running on Merseyside, with three wins in his first six games, a run which included four clean sheets.
Poor form after the turn of the year, however, including three successive defeats against Bournemouth, Manchester United and Tottenham, led to frustration from Everton fans who were also unhappy with the style of play.
During Allardyce's reign, the Blues' conservative style was highlighted with Everton ranking 20th in the Premier League for shots taken, 19th for shots on target, 16th for passing accuracy but 17th in terms of shots faced since the former England boss came in.
Seven wins from the end of January saw Allardyce steer Everton to eighth, missing out on European qualification, before leaving the club at the end of the season
Position when Allardyce arrived: 13th (15pts)
Position at the end of the season: 8th (49pts)
West Bromwich Albion (2020/21)
After two years away, Big Sam is back in the Premier League.
He takes over a West Brom side who are 19th in the table with just one win to their name after 13 games - a 1-0 victory over bottom side Sheffield United.
The Baggies also have the worst defence in the division so far this season having conceded 26 goals, albeit 10 of those goals came in defeats against Everton and Crystal Palace in games which West Brom had a player sent off - Kieran Gibbs and Matheus Pereira respectively.
West Brom's biggest problem for Big Sam to solve is at the top end of the pitch with the squad managing just 10 goals so far. Allardyce's reputation has been built on improving teams defensively but that alone won't be good enough for the Baggies to avoid the drop this season.
Allardyce has pulled off some great escapes in his time in management but keeping West Brom in the Premier League this season would top the lot.
Position when Allardyce arrived: 19th (7pts)
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