Mark Hughes refused to press the panic button on his rein at Southampton, despite winning just three of his 16 Premier League games.
The Saints have lost their last three league games by an aggregate score of 0-8 and on Saturday travel to free-scoring Bournemouth, who have hit 10 in their last four.
Should they lose and fail to score again, Hughes will be the first Saints boss to oversee four top-flight defeats in a row without scoring since Ian Branfoot in December 1993.
'Listen, it's a difficult league. We know that,' Hughes said during a sometimes spiky press conference.