After the home defeat to Manchester City, Graham Potter's side left to a polite applause and it was a damning sign of their current state of affairs.
There was no show of rage. The sort of loss that would have been considered a potentially fatal wound in the past was not the subject of dissent. There's nothing. There was more resignation at the bridge.
It has been a long time since a loss at home to rivals such as Manchester City brought sympathy to a club that is 10th in the premier league and 10 points off the top four.
There is good reason for this given that despite a lengthy injury list, they acquitted themselves with credit.
Any top four ambitions would be hit by the absence of N'Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
There is an unmistakeable whiff of transition around a club that has thrived on chaotic instability in the past but now faces a huge struggle to reach what they consider to be their natural habitat. It looks like it's going to be very hard to win.
Is there anything good about a club that has spent so much time chasing the big prizes that it's easy to lose sight of the real purpose of the club?
Chris said that the fans want to see where they are applauding the players for their hard work. Over the course of the past two decades, the team has won the big trophy.
These are tough times for new manager Potter as he tries to put his stamp on a team that he was allowed to build. New owner Todd Boehly has promised Potter this with a five-year contract, but the American will definitely want to be challenging for the top four. He is a new player in this league and will he be patient?
In the past eight games, the Blues have only won one of them and will face Manchester City in the FA Cup. Things could get worse before they get better for a manager still in the early stages of convincing a demanding fan base that he is a suitable successor to a well-known European champion.
How much canTodd Boehly tolerate? I wonder if they will view this as a job too big for Graham Potter if they go out to City.
They have spent a fortune and you feel for Potter, but it isn't good enough. I don't believe anyone expected the game to end that way. The team they used to be are not the same. Todd Boehly is giving Graham Potter. It's hard to see where this is headed.
It was a busy day at the office on Thursday with the arrival of a £35 million defender from Monaco, as well as talks over a World Cup winner from Argentina, Mykhaylo Mudryk, and a player from Shakhtar.
In the absence of the likes of Broja, and not make-do-and-mend stop gaps, there is a need for a main goal scorer. If anything is to be salvaged, it must be fixed.
Pierre-Emerick was supposed to be a solution but he looked shot and was replaced by a substitute in the first minute.
Christopher Nkunku will arrive in the summer but the need is now.
Boehly seems to be in charge of affairs and no clear structure has emerged so far.
The signing of Cucurella could be worth more than $60 million. The presence of England left-back Ben Chilwell and the promise of Lewis Hall made it seem like it was a bit too much.
Manchester City didn't want to pay that price. It was easy to see why, as Cucurella was uncertain in defence and switched off at the far post in the game's decisive moment, allowing Ryoko to slide in the winning goal.
The lack of resources and quality were obvious once City were in front, despite the fact that the first half saw the better team hit the post.
At a time of change at the club, they are in a new area. There is a situation that requires patience, a smart transfer strategy and some healthy bodies back on the pitch.
There will be a lot of attention on Potter, but also on the newcomers in the board.
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