Roberto De Zerbi. Will the Italian be the captain of a sinking ship at Tottenham Hotspur, or can he lead the Lilywhites clear of the iceberg?
That is the question that will be answered over the next seven Premier League games in north London, with Spurs facing arguably their most pivotal period in decades, such is the predicament they have found themselves in.
After the chaos of Ange Postecoglou, the club hierarchy went for the steady hand of Thomas Frank, before the Dane's demise brought about the drastic, surprise appointment of Serie A firefighter, Igor Tudor.
Now it's the turn of De Zerbi, brought in ahead of schedule by the ENIC regime, to try and revive last season's Europa League winners. So what does his prior Premier League record foreshadow?
What Spurs can learn from De Zerbi's Brighton stint
The Italian's most recent post was, of course, at Marseille, although it is his time at Brighton and Hove Albion that might provide a more telling insight into what Spurs supporters can expect from their man in the dugout.
Having taken over from Graham Potter early on in the 2022/23 campaign, De Zerbi led the Seagulls to a stellar sixth-place finish and an FA Cup semi-final, while securing Europa League football, prior to overseeing a more mixed 11th-place finish in 2023/24.
Only champions Manchester City, alongside Arsenal and Liverpool, bettered Brighton's tally of 72 goals that first year, although their tally of 53 goals conceded was the worst of any team in the top seven.
That season did see De Zerbi's men finish only behind Man City too with regard to xG, while ranking third in the division for average possession per game, highlighting his desire to be a ball-dominant coach.
A Postecoglou-style, attack-minded tactician in that sense, worryingly for Spurs, De Zerbi didn't win any of his first five league games in charge of the south coast side, the type of form that would likely plunge Tottenham toward relegation were it to be repeated.
To avoid such teething issues, the incoming boss needs to ensure he selects the group of players most suited to his unique style, putting notable key figures at risk of exile.
Why £27m Spurs star could be finished after De Zerbi arrival
As noted above, the key element of De Zerbi's philosophy is retaining possession, having spoken in the past of wanting his sides to implement a patient approach in build-up, in order to feed the forward players at the best possible opportunity.
"I wanted to be a protagonist on the pitch. To be a protagonist you have to keep the ball, to have the ball." De Zerbi to The Athletic.
"From it starts the ball possession. I was the No.10. You win the game through the No.10, No.11, No.9 and No.7, because they are the players with more quality. And to show their quality they have to be put in the right situations to play..."
Central to that set-up is the midfield unit, with Moises Caicedo having notably finished sixth on the list of all Premier League players for accurate passes in 2022/23, with teammate Pascal Gros in 14th.
That desire to keep the ball could well hamper Joao Palhinha's chances of regular game time now that De Zerbi is on board, with the Portuguese warrior a far more effective ball winner than he is a deep-lying, midfield metronome.
The on-loan Bayern Munich man does boast that Caicedo-style knack for regaining possession, having averaged 4.6 tackles and interceptions per game this season, just ahead of what the Ecuadorian racked up in 2022/23 (4.2).
That said, he does not boast the passing prowess to go with that defensive nous, having averaged just an 80% pass accuracy rate, well below Caicedo's average of 89%.
Palhinha has shown himself to be something of a box-crasher from midfield, with three goals to date in the top-flight, yet he isn't a creative force from deep, averaging just 0.2 key passes per game - a clear difference from the 1.2 of his ex-Brighton counterpart.
Caicedo, who subsequently secured a club-record deal to Chelsea, might be the cream of the crop, yet he perfectly illustrates the type of all-round midfielder that De Zerbi is after, ensuring it is difficult to see where Palhinha can find a home over the coming weeks.
In the longer term, too, there would have to be doubt over the 30-year-old signing permanently, with a fee of around £27m having been mooted, with the towering midfielder likely to be furious that such a managerial appointment has been made by ENIC, considering the impact it could have on his Spurs future.
Indeed, he might well have been praying for a reunion with his former Fulham boss Marco Silva instead...