For the third December in a row, Swansea are looking for a new manager after sacking Paul Clement.
This time last year Bob Bradley was sacked with Garry Monk having been axed in December 2015.
Clement was dismissed on Wednesday night with the club rock-bottom of the Premier League with just three wins in 18 games.
The 45-year-old only took over in January and led the club to survival last season.
But Sunday’s defeat at Everton – which left the Liberty Stadium outfit four points adrift of safety – proved the last straw despite suggestions Clement might be given until Saturday’s game with Crystal Palace.
“We felt we couldn’t leave it any longer and needed to make a change to give the best chance of an uplift,” said Chairman Huw Jenkins, whose recruitment policy in recent seasons has to be questioned.
“We had three different managers last season and as a result we all wanted to give Paul as much time as possible to turn things around.
“Paul has been at the club for 12 months and what he achieved in the second half of last season to keep us in the top flight was a tremendous feat.
“For that, and his effort and commitment this season, it goes without saying that the club thanks him for his work.”
Tony Pulis would seem the obvious choice as he is available immediately after being sacked by West Brom.
The Welshman – also linked with the national job – has a reputation for keeping clubs in the top-flight following his time at the Baggies and Stoke.
But Pulis’ style of play – seen as a complete contrast to the Swansea style which has been abandoned in recent years anyway – will have some fans questioning his appointment,
And there will also be calls for club stalwart Leon Britton to be given a chance though the midfielder was only added to Clement’s coaching staff a few weeks ago.
Former Everton chief Ronald Koeman and ex-West Ham boss Slaven Bilic could be other candidates with the Swans looking for a quick appointment with Saturday’s game against Palace crucial.
Clement had made his name as an assistant to Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, leaving the German giants to take over from Bradley on a two-and-a-half year deal last January.
He had had a brief stint in charge of Derby, but despite the lack of experience guided the Swans to safety after a strong run of performances in the second half of the season
Bur the Swans lost arguably their three best players in the summer with last season’s leading scorer Fernando Llorente, player of the year Gylfi Sigurdsson and midfielder Jack Cork leaving for a variety of reasons.
The trio have not been replaced with players of similar quality with the arrival on loan of Portugal’s Renato Sanches proving a huge disappointment.
And there will be many Swans fans questioning why Jenkins is not carrying the can for what will be another relegation scrap – with the manager again paying the December price.
Clement’s assistant managers Nigel Gibbs and Karl Halabi have also left the club.