THE international break. A dangerous time for under-pressure managers.

A time for twitchy, trigger-happy chairmen to take drastic action.

An unsettling period when bosses come and go and the unfathomable can become reality.

Surely, however, not the case for Ipswich Town and Paul Hurst anymore - not after Saturday’s pulsating victory at Swansea City.

First and foremost, he’s employed by a club where faith and loyalty are the currency, not nonsensical sackings.

Second, he’s going into this particular hiatus on the back of a precious, desperately-needed win – his first since taking the reins.

The relief was palpable and the jubilation exhilarating – the polar opposite of last Tuesday’s limp 2-0 defeat against Middlesbrough.

Instead of leaking early goals and slumping to an inevitable defeat, Town fell behind but then showed the spirit, character and fight that had been so sorely lacking at Portman Road.

Fans were put through the emotional wringer, from dejection and elation, back to despair and then ultimately euphoria.

But was it a one-off? A false dawn, papering over cracks and disguising the shortcomings that have been exposed so far.

Or was it a turning point? The spark and catalyst to suggest better times lie ahead.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer, clearly, but the nature of this victory surely points to the latter.

Under-pressure managers have generally lost their dressing room. Confidence evaporates and players go through the motions.

That isn’t the case here, though, despite grumbles that Hurst is out of his depth and sinking, and you only have to look at the desire shown by the players in South Wales.

There was plenty to be positive about, aside from the unexpected result.

Andre Dozzell came back into the side and reminded everyone what a loss he was while injured last season.

The youngster has heaps of ability, vision and nous, picking passes and always neat and tidy in possession.

Now he deserves a run in the side, a regular stage to perform on and the opportunity to produce some consistency.

Ahead of him, Freddie Sears was handed a rare but well-deserved start up front, creating Gwion Edwards’ goal and forcing Mike van der Hoorn to put through his own net and make it 2-1.

Collectively, Town pulled off a shock win – their first since late April – and now the challenge is to follow it up with another victory against QPR on October 20.

If they don’t, and miss the opportunity to truly kick-start their campaign, it will count for nothing.

So let’s hope it was a pivotal moment and one that rekindles the hope and optimism of the summer.

Despite what some have suggested, there’s no need for a hasty, messy divorce between the club and their manager.

It might not be a match made in heaven just yet.

There are kinks that need ironing and plenty of hard works lies ahead.

But if anyone still needs convincing, think long and hard about the nature of Saturday’s victory.

Town’s ‘something old’ (Gerken, Chambers, Ward, Skuse and Sears), ‘something new’ (Edwards, Nsiala and Donacien), ‘something borrowed’ (Chalobah and Pennington) and ‘something blue’ came to the party to suggest this is a relationship that really can stand the test of time.