Sam Allardyce was left shattered after his West Ham United team conceded a last-gasp goal to lose 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Hammers looked on course to start the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season with a point from an eventful game at the Boleyn Ground, only for a host of missed chances - including Mark Noble's first unsuccessful penalty in five years - to cost them dear.
Both sides had a man sent-off - Kyle Naughton for the handball that led to Noble's missed 30th-minute spot-kick and James Collins for two bookable offences on 63 minutes - before Spurs debutant Eric Dier popped up three minutes into added time to collect Harry Kane's pass, round Adrian and silence the Claret and Blue Army.
Afterwards, Big Sam spoke to West Ham TV, admitting his frustration at his players' inability to put the ball in the back of the net.
Sam, what did you make of the game?
SA: "The length of time it went on, watching the game from sat upstairs or down on the touchline, you know that this game will sometimes bite you when you don't finish off the opposition when you've created so many chances.
"We paid the ultimate price in the last minute because we didn't secure the victory well before Tottenham got their goal. When Tottenham did get their goal, it was with their last chance and probably their only clear-cut chance in the whole game.
"You've got to be two goals up because then we could have got away with it and still taken the three points. But because we've not scored the penalty, because we've had 20 attempts at goal and haven't scored and because we allowed the opposition to equal it up to ten against ten, they were the three most important factors in why we have lost this game.
"It's a real shame based on the overall game and the efforts the players have given."
We had 18 shots on goal, but only four on target - was that our major issue?
SA: "Yes, that was the problem - 20-odd shots on goal but only four or five on target. Tottenham didn't have very many on target either, but in terms of ratio they have had about eight and scored one goal at the death.
"It was strange that their centre-half playing right-back rounded the keeper and put it in, because you wouldn't expect a centre-back to be capable of that, but he was.
"Like I said, the real problem was that we missed too many chances when it was 11v11 and we missed too many chances when it was 11v10 and missed too many chances when it was 10v10 - that's a real shame on today's performance against a side which has spent hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds."
Mark Noble saw his first-half penalty drift wide of the post
Were you ever tempted to change the system and put a second striker on when it was 11v10?
SA: "No, not really because we had got players who were needing to come off and players who had problems and couldn't make that change. Why make that change when you've had 20 attempts at goal?
"We've had 20 attempts at goal and enough balls in the box and chances, whether we played 4-3-3, 3-5-2 or 4-6-0, we couldn't have done any better apart from being clinical and putting the ball in the back of the net. That was against a Tottenham, too.
"It wasn't just when it was 11v10, but it was before that at 11v11, when we got into the game after ten minutes. Like I said, it's a real shame we lost, but we have only ourselves to blame.
"Again, the key area is that we must start scoring goals. We have to score more goals this year than last year and this is a massive indicator as to why, because we would have won three points had we been a bit more clinical."
What did you make of the performances of the new boys, Cheikhou Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell and Enner Valencia?
SA: "They are young and they've got the energy and skill. For me, Cheikh was the man of the match. He did everything a midfielder has to do and more. He outshone any of Tottenham's midfield players by a long mile. He went into centre-half when we needed him after Ginge got sent-off and he did well.
"Aaron did fine. Performance-wise, there were no problems at all, but result-wise is the ultimate so we're all very disappointed."
What is Diafra Sakho going to bring to the squad?
SA: "He is a real powerhouse. He is about 5'11 - a little bit taller than Enner - and he has got a lot of pace. He scored 20 goals last year in the Second Division in France and he got Metz into the First Division.
"There is a risk factor there, because he hasn't played at this level yet, so I don't want to rely on him too much, too soon, if I can help it. The same with Enner, who has really only had eight or ten days of training and hasn't played in a game for us at all. We put him on for ten minutes to get a little feel and he did OK.
"It was just that final crushing blow that has left us all so disappointed, but it shouldn't cloud the way we played. We've played very, very well and sadly for the man who is West Ham through and through and has never missed a penalty in the three years I've been here, the rest of the lads should have made sure his penalty miss didn't matter. Sadly, we didn't."