First there was Avram Grant, then there was Henk Ten Cate. It seems that nobody’s job is safe at Chelsea. Especially when you hear that the club have made the decision to sack Nick Perruccio, somebody who has been on their payroll for more than ten years.

For the unitiated, Perruccio was the head chef at Chelsea, serving up culinary delights for the team and the several managers that have been in charge over the past ten years. He was hired by Gianluca Vialli and has introduced the Blues players to a wide range of new tastes. The Daily Mail report that the club were sly in the way they got shot of their cook.

But Chelsea insiders say the chef - brought up in Rome with an Italian father and English mother - has always been liked by the players, who were conveniently on their holidays when the axe fell.

The suspicion is that Perruccio’s departure has more to do with an uneasy relationship with the club’s powerful medical department than any discontent in the team dining room over the quality of his pasta sauces.

Perruccio has been credited with convincing Terry of the healthy benefits of a Mediterranean diet. Chelsea’s combative skipper may now find the explanation for the chef’s exit hard to swallow.

‘JT’ has already had to endure several servings of humble pie since he fluffed a penalty in the Champions League final, leaving him with egg on his face. Who is now going to serve up the Chelsea squad members with sour grapes when they next lose a match?