It lasted 113 days. Liam Rosenior became the latest manager to discover that the Stamford Bridge revolving door spins faster than most, dismissed on April 22 after a run of results that belongs in the history books for all the wrong reasons.
Five consecutive defeats. Zero goals scored. It is a sequence that Chelsea have not endured since 1912, a fact that tells you everything about how badly things unravelled during Rosenior's brief tenure.
What Went Wrong
The appointment always carried risk. Rosenior arrived with a reputation as a progressive, possession-oriented coach, but inheriting a squad assembled through years of scattergun recruitment was always going to be a challenge. The numbers were staggering - over a billion pounds spent on players since the current ownership group took over, yet the team looked bereft of identity and cohesion.
The defensive record told one story. The attacking output told another, arguably worse one. Five games without a single goal suggests a team that had completely lost its way in the final third, unable to create, unwilling to take risks, paralysed by a fear of making mistakes.
Rosenior tried to implement his ideas quickly, perhaps too quickly. The players looked confused by the new system in the early weeks, and by the time clarity might have arrived, confidence had already evaporated. Football is cruel that way - once the spiral begins, stopping it requires something extraordinary.
The Bigger Picture
This is not just about one manager. Chelsea are now on their fifth permanent appointment since Todd Boehly completed his takeover, and the pattern is becoming depressingly familiar. New manager arrives, promises a fresh start, results falter, manager departs. The cycle repeats.
The squad itself is bloated and unbalanced. Young players on enormous contracts sit alongside experienced campaigners who seem unsure of their role. The wage bill is astronomical. The transfer strategy - if it can be called that - has produced quantity over quality.
What Chelsea need is not another manager. They need a coherent football philosophy that outlasts any single appointment. They need patience, which is the one commodity that modern football ownership seems least willing to provide.
What Comes Next
The search for Rosenior's successor has already begun, with several names being linked to the job. Whoever takes the role will face the same fundamental challenge - turning a collection of expensive individuals into a functioning football team.
For now, Chelsea sit uncomfortably in the bottom half of the Premier League table, a position that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. The club that once defined English football's ambition has become a cautionary tale about what happens when money replaces strategy.