There was a surprising but rather welcome ruthlessness attached to the termination of Ronald Koeman's contract on Monday, as the Everton hierarchy moved decisively to begin repairing this damaging start.
The next Everton chapter starts now, and the man tasked with steadying the ship, at least in the immediate future, is former player and current Under-23 manager David Unsworth. Unsworth has been here before, stepping in for the sacked Roberto Martinez to guide Everton to a 3-0 win against Norwich on the final day in 2015-16.
The expectation at this stage is that Unsworth will remain in charge at least until the international break next month, meaning a tough run of games.