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Much to the amazement of most of their fans, and the surprise of many people in football, Thomas Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea following their defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday.
It follows a stuttering start to their league campaign, with two defeats in their opening six games, and only a controversial VAR call meant that they avoided dropping more points at home to West Ham last weekend.
And it shows that new owner Todd Boehly is prepared to be as every bit as ruthless when it comes to under-performing managers as his predecessor Roman Abramovich.
Tuchel won the Champions League a few months after taking over form Frank Lampard in January 2020, and added the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup last season.
That record of success is not enough, though, to have bought him any time, and the hunt is on for his successor already.
Although both Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane have been linked with the job, it is Brighton’s Graham Potter who is the favourite to take over.
Brighton have already given Chelsea permission to talk to the 47-year old, who has a £16 million buy-out clause in his contract.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.