Scott Parker has been sacked just four games into the new Premier League season, days after Bournemouth were beaten 9-0 by Liverpool at Anfield, but his fate was not sealed by events on the pitch.
The Bournemouth hierarchy would have forgiven Parker for losing by nine. What they could not forgive was the brutal honesty of Parker's assessment after the match and the breakdown of his relationship with those running the club.
Responding to Parker's plea for new signings after suggesting more drubbings were on their way because the team were "struggling for air", owner Maxim Demin made it clear why Parker was being sacked: "In order for us to keep progressing as a team and a club as a whole, it is unconditional that we are aligned in our strategy to run the club sustainably. We must also show belief in and respect for one another."
It was a remarkable and exasperated show of brinkmanship from Parker after such a humiliating defeat, and it should perhaps come as no surprise that he could not survive. Whoever comes next now knows they dare not cross Demin, even if - as has been the case with Parker - nowhere near enough money is spent in the transfer market.
Here's a look at the favourites to succeed Parker.
Dyche should wait for a better offer
Sean Dyche is the favourite 2.26/5, but his stock is still very high and with a lucrative career as the Premier League's next fire-fighter awaiting him - he is the natural heir to Sam Allardyce - Dyche needs to be patient and wait for a better opportunity. Bournemouth is a hospital pass; a club scrambling around for new players and with a Championship-standard squad demoralised by events of the past week.
Dyche need only wait a couple of months for something better. The World Cup in November offers a chance for clubs to change managers and enjoy a mid-season training camp, which means many heads should fall then - with Everton's Frank Lampard one of the more likely to go. Everton have a habit of veering from one playing style to the other, while the presence of James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil, who Dyche knows from Burnley, gives him a head start.
Bournemouth, by contrast, still believe in the principles laid down by Eddie Howe, hence Parker's appointment last year. Consequently, Dyche's direct and old-fashioned football isn't best suited to the current squad, although Demin may believe a defensive coach is what's needed to grind out results. Either way, Dyche should steer clear.
Kjetil Knutsen 4.03/1 is an exciting gamble
Throughout 2022 Knutsen has been linked with Championship and lower Premier League jobs, and it may be that Bournemouth is the right club to give a chance to the 53-year-old after his success with Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt.
He won promotion to the top flight with Bodo/Glimt before immediately winning back to back titles, and last year made waves on the European stage with a run to the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League. They famously beat Jose Mourinho's Roma 6-1 in the group stage, and were 2-1 up after the first leg of their quarter-final against the same opponent before losing 4-0 in Rome.
Having qualified for the group stages of the Europa League this year, where they are set to face Arsenal, Knutsen may feel he has more work to do in Norway. But Bournemouth would be able to provide a lucrative pathway into the most famous league in the world. Knutsen plays an aggressive style of attacking football that would likely go down well on the south coast, although chances to do so would, of course, be limited by Bournemouth's inferiority at this level.
Nevertheless, with a weak field of options for Bournemouth and with a second pre-season due in November, they could do a lot worse than taking a punt on someone who could prove to be the next Graham Potter.
Wilder 11.010/1 would be the sensible choice
Chris Wilder did a brilliant job at Sheffield United and proved that he can work at the highest level, even if things ultimately went sour in his second season. His unique style of sophisticated position-swapping football mixed with physicality and long balls forward won him many plaudits and there is good reason to believe he would do well at Bournemouth - who have a better squad than Sheffield United did.
He took the Middlesbrough job in November last year and won 48 points in 29 games, the joint-sixth most in that timeframe - pointing to a bright future and a promotion push. However, things have started badly this year as Boro languish on six points from six games. It would suit all parties for Wilder to leave now.
Football is a fickle business and it is unlikely the Bournemouth owner would want Wilder while his stock is temporarily low.
Jones and O'Neill uninspiring choices
Nathan Jones 13.012/1 and Gary O'Neill 15.014/1 complete the top five favourites to succeed Parker and it speaks volumes that neither manager inspires much optimism.
Jones has been an excellent Luton Town manager, first putting them on the path from League Two to the Championship before leaving for an unsuccessful spell at Stoke City. He returned to the Hatters and took them to the Championship play-offs last year. However, that difficulty at Stoke, coupled with a bad start to the 2022/23 season, makes him an unfavourable choice for such a tricky Premier League job.
O'Neill makes the cut purely on the basis that possession is nine tenths of the law. He has never held a managerial position before, having been the assistant at Liverpool under-23s before moving to join Jonathan Woodgate at Bournemouth. It would take some big wins, and Dyche to reject the job, before O'Neill was given a chance.