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Roman Abramovich has had plenty of practice sacking Chelsea managers over the past 12 years and the justification for doing so has always been pretty clear.
Anyone failing to win trophies, get results and/or put the club’s qualification for the Champions League at risk, have quickly found a P45 in their hands.
In normal circumstances, Chelsea’s predicament under Jose Mourinho would be an open and shut case for the prosecution.
This is the worst run of form under any coach in the Abramovich era. The Capital One Cup defeat to Stoke last night means they have effectively already lost both trophies they won last season.
In many ways, Abramovich has already shown remarkable restraint by his standards as the club lurch from one humiliation to another.
Defeat against Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime could bring the curtain down on Mourinho’s second spell at the club and despite the ‘Special One’ looking anything but this season, there must be a nagging doubt in Abramovich’s mind over whether the grass will be greener if he decides to act.
Whatever happens, the 52-year-old is still the best manager the club has ever had as his three Premier League titles demonstrate.
His demeanour may have had a detrimental impact at the training ground but anyone who saw the displays in the recent defeats at West Ham and Stoke couldn’t argue they’d stopped trying for him.
As captain John Terry remarked last night: “If we keep playing like that, we will be all right.”
Loic Remy also issued a strong statement of support to this paper today, while the near 5,000 travelling fans made their feelings clear by singing Mourinho’s name throughout. Granted, his CV shows he is a short-term manager. His longest vigil at one club was his stay of just over three years at Chelsea first time around between 2004-07.
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His predicament is simply unfathomable and surely, as his record over the past 13 years suggests, only temporary.
To make a switch as significant and as expensive as this one — Mourinho will be owed a fortune in compensation if Abramovich decides to pull the trigger — the replacement has to be an improvement on the incumbent.
How Mourinho's second Chelsea reign unravelled
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Granted it feels like something needs to be done to lift the gloom but that would only be a short-term fix. The candidates mooted for the position have their fair share of faults. For example, the favoured long-term solution Pep Guardiola has never taken charge of a club that has been in this kind of turmoil and will need convincing. He took over what was already a superb Barcelona side before taking on a Bayern Munich outfit in 2013 that had just won the Champions League as well as the German league and cup.
Diego Simeone is another coach admired at Stamford Bridge. The problem is the Argentine loves his life in Spain with Atletico and has shown little desire to seek a move.
Then there is Carlo Ancelotti, a man still loved for leading Chelsea to the Double in 2010. Arguably, he’d be the most accepted appointment, yet while he is undoubtedly one of the nicest guys in the sport and would improve morale, tactically he is not an upgrade on Mourinho.
Guus Hiddink would also be a major gamble at this stage. It is six years since his successful three-month caretaker role with Chelsea in 2009 and he looks a fading force.
So before Abramovich considers reaching for that panic button, the Russian multi-billionaire must decide if losing Mourinho would cause more harm than good.