Thiago Silva was the first player to pay tribute to Frank Lampard on social media following his sacking at Chelsea. 

Reflecting on the manager who took him to Stamford Bridge this summer, the centre-back wrote: 

"I would like to thank you for everything you and your committee have done for me since the day I arrived. As I told you, it seemed like we had been working together for 10 years!! Thank you very much for everything legend."

By the time the Brazilian had posted that, he will no doubt have had another head coach on his mind: Thomas Tuchel. 

The German is being brought in to replace Lampard at the helm less than a month after being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain. 

If Lampard has any qualms about the brutality of his sacking, then at least he wasn't axed on Christmas Eve. 

That's exactly what happened to his successor, but it was the culmination of a tense relationship with various members of the PSG board, particularly sporting director Leonardo. 

In an interview, Tuchel claimed he felt more like a "politician" than a coach. He later backtracked, but the damage was done and within days, he'd been relieved of his duties. 

Silva will be very familiar with how that situation unfolded, having played for PSG between 2012-2020. 

That made him an obvious man to speak to when his former boss was sacked in December and while his comments were refreshingly honest, they don't make for great reading now that he's going to have to work under Tuchel once again. 

“It’s difficult but it was predictable that this [sacking] was going to happen," he told RMC. 

“Not now, but being inside, we knew there were situations that had to be changed.

“In my opinion, Leonardo took the situation in hand, he made his choice.

“We do not know if it was good, it was not at all for Tuchel and his staff. This change was not planned at this time.”

Silva clearly backed the club over the coach on this occasion. 

Little did he know that he'd be set for a reunion with his old manager very soon. 

The writing has been on the wall for Lampard for a few weeks now, with the recent defeat to Leicester City really spelling the end of his tenure. But at the time of Tuchel's sacking, Chelsea were still flying high and hadn't yet suffered their ignominious Boxing Day defeat to Arsenal. 

How quickly times change in football - and how easily Silva's words have come back to bite him.