Jose Mourinho gave Chelsea's players the day off on Tuesday -- 24 hours help clear the mind and lower the temperature. Not just as far as the Chelsea squad are concerned but for the Special One too.
While that was happening, stock was being taken further up the food chain.
The club's rationale this season, as things went from bad to worse, had been that -- while Chelsea would revisit the situation in December -- Mourinho was bound to turn it around.
By the end of September and the 2-2 draw away to Newcastle, the talk inside the club was that he could still win the title (they were eight points back at the time).