Some things always stay the same, like the Chelsea managerial hot seat merry go round which has now seen its 16th change in the last 20 years after Graham Potter was relieved of his duties.
Following Roman Abramovich's 19-year Chelsea ownership, Todd Boehly-led consortium has taken over the London club and the managerial trapdoor which was quite active in the last two decades still seems to be in motion.
After an impressive spell at Brighton and Hove Albion, Potter was brought to Stamford Bridge from the south coast club reportedly for £21.5m, an amount closely resembling that paid by Bayern Munich to RB Leipzig for the services of Julian Nagelsmann.
But only seven months into an eye-watering five-year contract, it all unraveled for the 47-year old as he was given the boot with Chelsea lying in the bottom half of the league table.
The likeable Englishman did guide the Blues to the quarter-finals of the Champions League where they face Real Madrid, but an inconsistent league campaign often marred with defeats proved to be his undoing.
Potter bowed out with the joint-lowest points-per-game return of any Chelsea manager to take charge of more than 20 Premier League matches, the other being Glenn Hoddle.
Some say the former Seagulls manager was always facing an uphill task replacing Thomas Tuchel, a firm fan favorite after his Champions League and Club World Cup triumph.
Despite his success, Tuchel lasted less than two years in the job as Boehly parted with the last remaining remnant of the Abramovich era.
Potter now becomes the new ownership's second managerial casualty in less than a year.
It was a recurring theme of the Russian oligarch's reign as he made 15 managerial changes, starting with the departure of Claudio Ranieri and ending with the Tuchel appointment.
Since his takeover and excluding Ranieri, only Jose Mourinho (twice), Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte managed for two or more full seasons.
Club legend Frank Lampard was at the helm for 18 months while the rest - Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink (two-time interim manager), Andre Villas Boas, Roberto Di Matteo, Rafael Benitez (interim) and Maurizio Sarri (willingly moved to Juventus) – were there for less than a year.
In spite of the constant managerial chopping and changing, Blues fans fondly recall Abramovich's time at the club which was embellished by a grand total of 19 trophies, including five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, two Champions League and two Europa League trophies.
Only time will tell if the likes of Boehly and his right-hand man Behdad Eghbali are as efficient as the Russian when it comes to managerial decisions, that too for such a long period of time.
Names of Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino, Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane, among others, have emerged as potential Potter replacement.
It remains to be seen how long the next Chelsea manager survives, and more importantly, whether he can bring the glory days back at Stamford Bridge.
CHELSEA MANAGERIAL CHANGES IN LAST 20 YEARS
Claudio Ranieri (September 2000-May 2004)
Jose Mourinho (June 2004-September 2007)
Avram Grant (September 2007-May 2008)
Luiz Felipe Scolari (July 2008-February 2009)
Guus Hiddink (February 2009-May 2009)
Carlo Ancelotti (June 2009-May 2011)
Andre Villas-Boas (June 2011-March 2012)
Roberto Di Matteo (March 2012-November 2012)
Rafael Benitez (November 2012-May 2013)
Jose Mourinho (June 2013-December 2015)
Guus Hiddink (December 2015-May 2016)
Antonio Conte (August 2016-July 2018)
Maurizio Sarri (July 2018-May 2019)
Frank Lampard (July 2019-January 2021)
Thomas Tuchel (January 2021-September 2022)
Graham Potter (September 2022-April 2023)
