Fabio Capello's future is not the only thing in jeopardy as England's qualifying campaign for the European Championships starts this week.
It is three years since both John Terry and Frank Lampard were missing from an England starting XI.
Considering England face a tough home game against Bulgaria on Friday and then an even harder task in Switzerland next Tuesday, the timing of their withdrawal could not have been worse for the Italian, even though some England boo-boys will be delighted the Chelsea pair are missing.
The coach refused to cave into the pressure to drop either of them for the friendly against Hungary last month, but he had no choice this time.
Few who have jeered Terry and Lampard from the terraces will shed a tear if they are frozen out in future. However, they should be careful what they wish for.
Capello has a worrying lack of options in replacing Terry at the back, especially as Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is still unavailable.
Matthew Upson has surely only earned a recall by default when you consider he was left out of the Hungary game.
That leaves Michael Dawson, Gary Cahill, Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka, who is also an injury doubt, battling it out to fill the two centre-half positions. They have only 14 caps between them. However, should the defence cope well in Terry's absence, Capello will come under strain to stick with the new breed.
Steven Gerrard made it clear after his two-goal performance against Hungary that he prefers playing in the middle and will surely get his wish in these two games.
Significantly, he scored both goals after Lampard had been substituted and was given the freedom to combine with England's strikers from an advanced central position.
The results against Bulgaria and Switzerland will go a long way to settling Capello's immediate future but they may also highlight just how important the Chelsea stars are to their country.
