The possibility of a perfect fit between the T&T's senior men's team and coach Tom Saintfiet had been a long shot at best.
Hired as a replacement for Stephen Hart, who had been in charge of the team for three and a half years, the 43-year-old Belgian national accepted a very tough challenge when he took up the job.
It certainly didn't help that in announcing his appointment just over a month ago, T&T Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams said the Belgian could face the sack after just two games in charge, if he could not keep T&T in contention for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Saintfiet, whose coaching resume portrays him as something of a globetrotter–he was in charge of teams in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Togo and Malawi and had a stint with Bangladesh–took over a T&T team that was one from bottom in the six-team final round World Cup qualifier and without a point after losing both their opening games late last year.
They went down 2-0 at home to Costa Rica on November 11 and four days later, suffered a 3-1 defeat to Honduras away in San Pedro Sula at the Estadio Ol�mpico Metropolitano.
But Saintfiet didn't show any signs of improving the team's fortunes. He oversaw defeats to Suriname and Haiti in Caribbean Cup qualifiers, leaving the national team out of the Gold Cup or the first time since 2011.
Elimination came via a 4-3 decision to Haiti in the last match of the 2016/17 Scotiabank CFU Men's Caribbean fifth-place playoff which left T&T at the bottom of the three-team table.
With World Cup qualification matches looming in March, Saintfiet faced the prospect of even more embarrassment at the hands of stronger teams.
But, surprisingly, that was not the reason he gave for throwing in the towel. Instead, rather belatedly, he cited a lack of support from the TTFA and John-Williams as the reason for his departure
John-Williams, has so far responded only with a statement that "a replacement for the post of Men's Senior Team Head Coach will be found in the shortest possible time and the TTFA will make an announcement on this in due course."
However, the TTFA boss owes T&T much more than that brief comment. He and his executive need to move quickly to get the team back on an even keel, or this country's 2018 World Cup dreams will be dashed.
For whoever is found to fill the vacancy left by Saintfiet, there are no more Caribbean Cup or Gold Cup activities, so the focus can be fully on the final round of Concacaf qualifying for the World Cup.
However, the odds are not in favour of the senior team which finds itself without a coach just two months before it is set to resume World Cup Qualifying against Panama and Mexico.
Moving past this latest challenge won't be easy.
During his brief stint, Saintfiet made some controversial team selections, including not calling up forward Kenwyne Jones for the Caribbean Cup matches and instead relying on 38-year-old Carlos Edwards and 36-year-old Cornell Glen with some disappointing results.
His first match in charge of the team ended in a 2-1 defeat to Nicaragua in Managua, followed by the loss to Haiti in extra time last Sunday.
He later claimed he did not have sufficient time to properly prepare the team.
Whoever replaces Saintfiet won't have the luxury of time either and faces the added burden of rebuilding a team that has just dropped five notches to 83 in the latest FIFA rankings.
The challenge is to find someone actually willing to take on such a difficult assignment.
However, the TTFA boss owes T&T much more than that brief comment. He and his executive need to move quickly to get the team back on an even keel, or this country's 2018 World Cup dreams will be dashed.