Igor Tudor delivered a message of defiance amid Tottenham Hotspur's deepening crisis when he told his players before their visit to Liverpool: "You can stay and cry or you can fight."
The smart money was on more tears after four straight losses under the Croat saw an alarming drop towards relegation, along with a loss at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 first leg that was nothing short of a fiasco.
And yet here, against all odds and without 13 players because of suspension and injuries, Spurs stood and fought every inch of the way at Anfield to earn a fully deserved point with a performance that may yet prove to be of wider significance as they fight against the drop into the Championship.
Will it be enough to buy Tudor more time? We shall see.
The sense is he is not out of the woods yet, but at least Tudor can have the satisfaction of demonstrating he can get a reaction, at least once, from Spurs players who had previously looked down and out.