Stephen Kenny had 45 minutes to save his job.
Everywhere he looked, there were reminders that ‘Better Never Stops’, the slogan adopted by Ireland’s new kit supplier, Castore, flashing up on the electronic boards around the pitch.
Surely Ireland were better than this?
READ MORE: Ireland v Gibraltar player ratings
Surely they were better than the toothless, insipid attacking display they dished up in a grim first-half devoid of risk and adventure?
It felt like they were trying to pass Gibraltar to death. Instead, the fans were bored to death.
Well, thankfully, they didn’t stop. They eventually found a way, courtesy of first goals at this level for Mikey Johnston and Adam Idah and a second for Evan Ferguson.
And Ferguson, James McClean and Jamie McGrath all went close to adding gloss to that slender winning margin with late chances before Idah did just that.
But while victory was the necessary response from Friday’s debacle in Athens, it would be a reach to call the performance a convincing one.
Yes, Ireland were the dominant side. But convincing? They did what was expected and nothing more.
The pro-Kenny chants often heard from the South Stand were conspicuous by their absence until the 87th minute and even that was half-hearted.
This was a no-win ‘must win’ for the under-fire boss who has likely earned himself a stay of execution going into September’s double-header.
But this result won’t change the mood music around the manager’s longevity in the role, not having blown the pivotal game of the group in Greece.
With qualification already all but over, Kenny needs the miracle of all miracles against France and Holland to survive September.
In 2019, the dire nature of Ireland’s performance in a 1-0 win away to Gibraltar - under Mick McCarthy - was swiftly overtaken by a chain of rapidly unfolding events on the Rock.
It was the night John Delaney resigned as chief executive, before filling the newly created position of Executive Vice President.
A dramatic night, but also the calm before the storm for what followed for Irish football.
But Gibraltar didn’t need a second chapter in the story of Irish football and yet for 45-minutes it looked like Kenny was on the brink.
Ireland’s bright start offered hope that this would be a straightforward night with Jamie McGrath drawing a save inside 30 seconds and Jason Knight causing havoc
The game was almost exclusively played around Gibraltar’s box, but Ireland had nothing about them in attack and butchered their play time and again.
Will Smallbone’s deliveries and attempted through balls lacked quality and Ferguson was starved of quality service but still fired off a shot from distance.
And as the half wore on, Gibraltar couldn’t believe their luck.
Led by 40-year-old centre-back Roy Chipolina, they stuck rigidly to their 5-4-1 formation and were largely untroubled.
Sure, they got no peace but Ireland’s attacking play was so toothless that they comfortably cut out the danger with blocks here and there.
Michael Obafemi’s control let him down so often he quickly became a peripheral figure while Ferguson, Dara O’Shea and Josh Cullen at least took pot shots from distance.
But unlike Latvia here in March, who knew how to expose the space afforded to them, Gibraltar had zero interest getting up the pitch.
But Ireland eventually got up and running in the second-half, with Kenny sacrificing Nathan Collins for Johnston in the hope of rejuvenating a limitless attack.
And it worked seven minutes in, with Johnston’s first international goal falling at his feet.
A Smallbone free-kick from the edge of the box cannoned off two Gibraltar players and ricocheted into the Celtic man’s path and he tucked home from a couple of yards.
And Ireland gave themselves breathing room in the 59th minute when James McClean - the stand-in captain on his 100th cap - pitched a cross to Ferguson who headed home with ease from close range.
It was precisely the kind of simple but effective move that Ireland hadn’t entertained in that grim first-half.
But, with Troy Parrott also introduced, the Boys in Green certainly had a bit more about them.
And after further near misses from McClean and McGrath, Ireland pulled clear when Idah headed home from five yards in the dying moments.
But the narrative around Kenny doesn’t change with this expected win against the minnows. The manager is walking on ice and we'll see in September if he sinks or swims.
