In the end, it came down to a single conversation, a summons to a house in Knightsbridge's Billionaires Row and an inevitable conclusion.
But as Avram Grant walked out of Chelsea for the last time, he knew that he was leaving a basket case of a club behind - and that he was the only man to have emerged from the last eight months with his reputation enhanced.
So close to winning three trophies, just a penalty kick from being crowned the champions of Europe, Grant paid the price for being another of Roman Abramovich's disposables.
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Yet even while many of the Chelsea fans who had refused to give him the credit he deserved mocked his "passing," it was Grant who had the right to stand tall in front of all of them.
Had John Terry's foot not slipped in Moscow, Grant may have still been in the job today.
After all, Abramovich is a man of whims, of spur-of-the-moment decisions, and in victory he was likely to precipitate a reversal of all that had been discussed behind the Stamford Bridge scenes in the past three months.
Sunday night, as the game of briefings began in earnest, with all the snide mutterings about Grant's lack of charisma and the absence of what the tabloids are calling the "wow" factor, it seemed the decision was probably made after the humiliating defeat at the hands of lowly Barnsley in the FA Cup 11 weeks ago.
Within seconds of the final whistle and elimination at the hands of a side in the Championship relegation zone, when Grant had been horrendously let down by the players to whom he showed far more loyalty than many of them showed him, the Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck's Blackberry went into overdrive.
The e-mails and text messages came from the court of King Roman and the message was clear: Somebody had to take responsibility, and that was the coach.
No matter that in the 16 games after Barnsley, Grant won 10, including victories over Liverpool and United, and lost just once, in the first leg against Fenerbahce.
No matter that he took a club in decline and led them to within a game of the Premier League title.
No matter that, having withstood the first-half onslaught, he out-thought Sir Alex Ferguson in the biggest game in Chelsea history, and was a single penalty kick away from being a Champions League winner.
At Chelsea, a club where there are more factions than the Vatican, too many people had the same twisted agenda: to make Grant the scapegoat, so they could increase their own influence.
It all adds up to what is hardly an enticing prospect - except for the $10 million pay-out - for the next man allowed into the execution chamber, especially when the scope of the other conditions is also evident. Grant's successor will be told in no uncertain terms that his first priority will be to clamp down hard and mercilessly on any hints of dressing-room disharmony.
Childish games
The Israeli, in effect, was condemned for allowing the likes of Didier Drogba to play their pathetic, childish games - even though Grant felt he had to earn the respect of his players, rather than demanding it.
Yet while being the Hammer of the Dressing Room is viable, what is even harder to expect is a manager who will do the job hand in glove with the money man behind Chelsea.
While Grant came into the job as Abramovich's friend, he was last night accused of turning his back on the billionaire by not involving him as much as the Russian expected.
Given that Abramovich was initially delighted by the warmth of the welcome he received from the Israeli when he visited the club's Cobham training base - in stark contrast to life under Mourinho, where he was regarded as the "enemy" by the Portuguese and his coterie of acolytes - it seems like a rewriting of history to justify the decision.
The truth is that Grant's first job was to establish his own credentials among a doubting squad - despite the disloyalty among some of those who were supposed to support him - which he achieved through his clarity of purpose and basic human decency.
Grant did all that could have been asked of him and more. Two defeats in 32 league games was two fewer than Sir Alex Ferguson over the same period, while no Chelsea manager has ever taken the club further in Europe's biggest competition.
It was not deemed sufficient and as Abramovich, listening to the advisors who took against Grant early on, fumed at the post Champions League Final wake in Moscow, it was simply a matter of timing.
Yet Grant walked away from Stamford Bridge a more dignified figure than any of those left left behind.
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
