In the end it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Sunderland's 6-0 humiliation at Bolton proved to be the final act for Lee Johnson, with the club announcing his sacking just over 24 hours later along with the departure of his long-time assistant Jamie McAllister.
In some ways it was a surprise - owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said last summer, following the club's failure to win promotion through the play-offs, that Johnson was 'a long-term appointment from the start'.
