In the end, Miguel Angel Russo's second exit from Boca Juniors was as swift as it was inevitable.
The veteran coach was shown the door on Monday after leading the Argentine giants to yet another disappointing result that leaves them marooned in the bottom reaches of the Liga Profesional without a single win to their name.
The first casualty of the Juan Roman Riquelme vice-presidential era, Russo is also the ninth trainer to come and go at the Bombonera since he achieved their last Copa Libertadores triumph back in 2007.
Among those who took the time to laud Russo, who also steered Boca to two national titles in his latest, 20-month spell, was one Carlos Tevez.
“Thank you, Miguel, for all the glory you gave the club! All the best, always,” the forward remarked on Instagram.
In truth, though, it was Carlitos' own departure that contributed in large part to the Xeneize's current malaise, which threatens to bring Riquelme and president Jorge Amor Ameal's entire administration into disrepute.
The numbers, after all, do not lie.
Tevez dropped a bombshell on his boyhood club back in May when he announced he was leaving with immediate effect, in the middle of his latest attempt to reclaim the Libertadores.
Since his exit, the club has failed to win a single game inside 90 minutes, drawing seven and losing two of their last nine outings – although with only one victory in the seven matches prior to Tevez's exit, they were hardly in rude health beforehand either.
In that same period, Russo's men bombed out of continental competition in controversial, violent circumstances to Atletico Mineiro, echoing the disappointment of January when fellow Brazilians Santos thrashed them 3-0 to advance to the final.
They were subsequently forced to play two league games with a youth side due to their violation of Covid-19 distancing protocols during the fracas, while a Copa Argentina Superclasico victory over River Plate at the start of August on penalties only gave the coach a stay of execution as results refused to improve.
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Now, Sebastian Battaglia, promoted from the Boca reserve team and a long-time team-mate of Riquelme's at both Boca and Villarreal, is tasked with steadying this tottering ship.
If he fails to clinch victory in his first match as interim boss, on Saturday against Patronato, he could finish his debut weekend with the club rock-bottom out of the 26 teams in the Argentine top flight, which would be a catastrophe even at this early stage in the season.
It is clear too that the club legend and second-in-command in the boardroom is feeling the pressure.
It is Riquelme, after all, who is responsible for playing matters at the Bombonera, deciding alongside Boca's Football Council (packed with close friends from his playing days) which players to sign, renew and cut loose. And here, as well as on the pitch, the Xeneize have made mistake after mistake.
Tevez's departure only further exposed the club's biggest weakness: a chronic lack of firepower in front of goal.
Pedestrian in the final third at the best of times under Russo, without the ex-Manchester City and United forward, and with temperamental Colombia winger Sebastian Villa close to following him out the door, Boca have found goals almost impossible to come by.
This run of nine winless games has seen the club score just twice, breaking Boca's own record for minutes without hitting the net in the process. Nor is it a matter of mere misfortune in front of goal: the Buenos Aires side recorded three consecutive games without even mustering a shot on target.
Yet Riquelme's sole reaction to that crisis was to bring in Huracan utility forward and Armenia international Norberto Briasco, a man with the distinctly underwhelming career record of 10 goals in 88 senior games, while at the start of the year he passed on Defensa y Justicia's Braian Romero, now hitting the net on a regular basis for arch-rivals River having signed in July.
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The man himself is keeping a characteristically low profile.
Riquelme's last public comments came almost a month ago in the aftermath of the scandalous end to their Copa tie with Mineiro, although he did make a visit to the Boca training ground following Russo's departure to lay down the law.
“You are going to have to take responsibility too for what happened because you are the ones that play,” he told his chastened squad, according to Ole .
Around the ever-eventful Boca world, however, are plenty who have the same message for the vice-president, pointing the finger of blame firmly at the former No.10.
“Miguel had no autonomy to pick the squad, I said it a year ago. Everything was managed by the Football Council,” Russo's old assistant Hugo Gottardi alleged to CNN . “I don't know if Miguel could have said bring me so and so and they would have signed him.
“First they say, 'Play with the kids, no problem', but if the results don't come, you have to go.”
Even TyC Sports journalist Horacio Pagani, a long-time Riquelme ally, did not pull his punches, stating that: “Boca ended up giving him the entire football side. You need experience, it's not enough to have been a football player.”
Smoothing over the rift with Tevez was one of the vice-president's first and most important acts after taking office at the end of 2019. The brilliant attacker spearheaded Boca's thrilling charge to the Superliga title months later and kept competing even through the hardship and uncertainty of the pandemic, which saw local football come to a half for more than six months.
Without their idol and talisman on the pitch, both Boca and Riquelme now seem lost, and there is no guarantee that things will pick up any time soon.
Replacing a star like Tevez is no mean feat for any club. But not replacing him at all and hoping for the best was a serious error of judgement from those in charge at the Bombonera and one for which Riquelme might pay dearly.
