We usually consider former Chelsea beat writer of the now defunct Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle, Dan Levene a very reliable and knowledgable source of everything Chelsea. He's now a freelancer, working for various outlets such as Eurosport or Get West London (the sort-of F&H Chronicle replacement), but nevertheless, he remains one of the foremost voices of Chelsea coverage across the media and the Internet. So when such a report comes from him, it's something to seriously consider.

In an unexpected twist, the headline actually seems to undersell it. "Jose Mourinho could be gone after Saturday's trip to Stoke, win or lose" — there's not much sense of "could be" in the actual text. It's definitely more of a "will be" and not just soon, but specifically after the Stoke City match, regardless of the result. Yesterday, the big story was that Jose has two more games to save his job. It would appear that he doesn't actually have anything left to save.

It's all over for Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, bar the shouting. [...] I hear he could have gone on Sunday - but, like previous sackings, Chelsea are choosing their moment. They want an opportunity that minimises the damage caused to the club. That means balancing the risk that a Mourinho side increasingly riven with divisions continues to lose games, with a moment to give his replacement the longest possible run-up at a debut match. Sense says, discounting a complete disaster against Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, that the axe will fall after Stoke on Saturday evening. No 'emergency press conferences' (as some social media trolls have alluded to), just a simple statement put out via the official club website thanking him for his efforts, but talking about the 'regrettable' nature of recent results. Lunchtime on Sunday, given previous conduct. -Dan Levene; Eurosport

The two-week international break that starts after next weekend, as we noted before as well, does give an obvious, natural break, to make the break, if a break is truly what we've decide to make. Heart break.

So, lunchtime on Sunday. Mark your calendars, I guess.