Roman Abramovich has been here before. Since taking over at Chelsea in 2003, he has been ruthless in firing managers and now he's hovering over the trigger again.
Sunday's humiliating defeat by Manchester City has left Frank Lampard on the brink with reports suggesting Chelsea bosses have already started to scour Europe for possible alternatives.
It was Chelsea's fourth defeat in six Premier League outings and continued their alarming slump in form over the festive period that has, if teams win their games in hand, opened a slight gap to the top end of the congested table.