When Frank Lampard sat in a corporate box behind Chelsea sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley at the dismal draw with Liverpool on Tuesday, most were just delighted to see the club legend back in the public eye.
Lampard had been out of the limelight since his painful sacking by Everton in January, after less than a year in charge. He had suffered a similarly unhappy fate when dismissed by Roman Abramovich at Chelsea two years earlier.
But the story of Lampard's appearance at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, it now appears, ran a little deeper.
It is totally in keeping with the current chaos at Chelsea under co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali and the Clearlake group that the man who, at first glance, appeared to be paying a flying visit is now manager.