Just 12 months ago Nottingham Forest sat joint second in the Premier League with a six-point lead over the chasing pack.
Chris Wood's hat-trick helped demolish Brighton 7-0 and Nuno Espirito Santo's side looked on course for a shock Champions League place.
Yet they won just four of their final 14 top flight games to eventually finish seventh as the dream started to unravel.
Sean Dyche's exit is the latest drama in the City Ground soap opera which has left a season which promised so much in tatters.
The self-inflicted wounds have cut deep.
The deteriorating relationship with Nuno Espirito Santo which sparked his exit and Ange Postecoglou's appointment has forced Forest to search for a fourth manager of the season.
With Dyche it was supposed to be different, reverting back to more of what the players knew and what had made them successful last season.
Forest needed to rediscover their roots - and they did for a time as it looked as if Dyche had brought stability but it was a false sense of security.
Players and fans were not happy, despite the statistics saying Dyche would eventually lead them to safety, even if they still sit just three points above the Premier League relegation zone.
He was nominated for January's Manager of the Month last week but is now out of a job after 114 days, having been brought in to steady a chaotic ship.
Instead Dyche's sacking is the latest chapter in a chaotic and turbulent season which could still lurch into a disastrous relegation.