Wayne Rooney may have left the managerial hotseat four months ago but that hasn't protected the former England captain from the continued fallout of his disastrous spell as Plymouth boss.
The 39-year-old oversaw just four league wins and suffered 13 defeats in 23 Championship games after taking charge of the Pilgrims last May.
With just two games remaining — Saturday's trip to Preston and the May 3 visit of Leeds — Plymouth remain rooted to the bottom of the Championship table, three points from safety.
Miron Muslic was charged with staving off relegation to League One when he took over from Rooney who was sacked on New Year's Eve.
And the Bosnian-born Austrian, who has since picked up 23 points from his 19 games, has pointed the finger at his predecessor and insisted that the club's safety would have been assured if he had been in place from the start of the season.
'I think if I'm the head coach from day one we will be far, far away from the relegation zone,' he said.
'We would be safe five games ago already. I truly believe if I will be here with my staff from day one we will be nowhere near where we are right now.'
A run of four wins and one draw from their last eight fixtures, including Monday's 3-1 victory over Coventry, has given Plymouth an outside chance of staying up but they are likely to need to win both their remaining matches.
Even if they do so, survival is out of Argyle's hands — they will need Luton Town, Cardiff City and Derby County to all drop points if they are to stay up.
But Muslic insists he has not given up hope and says recent results show there is still a chance Plymouth can secure a third successive season in the second tier.
'The performance today, the performance at Middlesbrough,' he told BBC Sport after the win over Coventry.
'We've taken nine points at Home Park against Norwich, against Sheffield United, against Coventry.
'These are teams playing for the Premier League and they all lost here in Plymouth at Home Park, that gives me the confidence.'