The brutal, unforgiving nature of a football manager’s job was underlined by Spurs’ sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo and the appointment of former Blues boss Antonio Conte.

In just over 100 games at Stamford Bridge, Conte led Chelsea to a league title and FA Cup victory… but disagreement over player investment with owner Roman Abramovich led to a fatal schism.

Conte (like Thomas Tuchel) is a disciplinarian who doesn’t put up with the dressing room mutterings that Frank Lampard was prepared to tolerate.

But Conte is likely to have an Abramovich-style falling-out with the Tottenham hierarchy, so it’s slightly surprising that – having rejected the Spurs manager’s job five months ago – he’s taking the hot seat.

Tuchel’s skills were on display once again at Newcastle at the weekend, with an impressive 3-0 victory despite being without Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount.

Chelsea host Burnley this weekend after returning from the latest chapter of their European adventure in Sweden.

The Clarets have been turning on the style lately, but the Bridge is again becoming a fortress for Chelsea, and the Blues are top of the league table for a reason.

Built on a rock-solid defence (with Tony Rudiger the pick of the backs, and Reece James adding spectacular goal-scoring to his skills in the rearguard), Chelsea are proving tricky to break down.

“Concentration, hunger and discipline” were identified by the Blues boss as key factors in the Newcastle win.

In the fragile world of football management, Tuchel is as safe in his job as it’s possible to be… for the time being.