IT’S time for a parting of the ways for Chelsea and striker Didier Drogba.
And if the club are keen to repair the damage caused by the fallout following Wednesday night’s disgraceful scenes at Stamford Bridge, Michael Ballack will also have to go.
Yes, over-promoted referee Tom Henning Ovrebo contributed to much of the mayhem but there is still little excuse for the behaviour of Chelsea’s two senior professionals.
Drogba has made an immense contribution to the club’s success but the stage has arrived where the good is now outweighed by both the bad and the ugly.
His red card three minutes from the end of the Champions League final in Moscow last season for slapping Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic was a pivotal reason why Chelsea failed to win the European Cup for the first time.
His dismissal robbed Avram Grant’s team of a key penalty-taker at the very time Chelsea had most need of their experienced players to both act responsibly and steady nerves.
Blues fans showed what they thought of their harebrained hitman by booing him. Drogba, though, was unrepentant going as far as to claim in his autobiography that he wished he had punched the Serb centre-half.
This is one man who doesn’t do contrition, unless — like yesterday — he is advised on the best course of action by the club’s ever-vigilant spin doctors.
And so to Wednesday night. Though defeat — however controversial and unfortunate — is a collective responsibility, Drogba still played a massive part in it.
In the first leg, he had missed Chelsea’s best chance and it was a similar tale at Stamford Bridge.
So you could mark that down as Drogba costing his team a place in the final to go with his role in Chelsea losing in Moscow.
And then we come to his bug-eyed, near-psychotic response after the final whistle when you feared for a moment he would attack the Norwegian referee.
If UEFA have any balls, he will be banned from the opening six group games of next season — along with Ballack for his similarly outrageous abuse of the match official.
If this is the case, it would be far better for the incoming Chelsea manager to start with a clean slate, his own ideas and replacements.
It would also remove £212,000 a week from the wage bill for two players — Drogba, 31, on £91,000 a week, Ballack, 33 in September, on £121,000 — not exactly in the first flush of youth.
But it goes much deeper than this. When Chelsea are at their best, Drogba is a huge part of it.
We saw that in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last season — and again at Anfield this season, when Chelsea won 3-1.
It was their best performance for a couple of years and Drogba was unplayable.
But when Chelsea are at their worst, Drogba is an even greater part of it.
Along with the huge amounts of money owner Roman Abramovich has lavished on his pet project, the Ivory Coast star is probably the main reason why Chelsea have struggled to win over the neutrals.
The irony here is that when Don Revie’s Leeds United were doing their own impression of the Mean Machine, Peter Osgood’s flamboyant Chelsea were seen as the great antidote.
Now the modern Chelsea are viewed with suspicion and cynicism — Jose Mourinho even called “the enemy of football” by UEFA following, among other escapades, accusations at the Nou Camp that led to the premature retirement of referee Anders Frisk.
The other irony is that it should be Drogba, the man who has spent so long attempting to con referees, who should be so incensed and frustrated by his failure to win penalties against Barcelona.
And then there’s Ballack. Even in Germany he polarises opinion — his detractors claiming he is over-rated, a player who cheats referees and a flat-track bully who never delivers when it matters.
He lost the 2002 Champions League final to Real Madrid with Bayer Leverkusen, missed the 2002 World Cup final through suspension, lost the 2008 Champions League final to United and then, soon after, skippered the German national side defeated by Spain in the European Championship final.
With Chelsea, a club beaten at the semi-final stage of Europe’s premier club tournament four times in five appearances, he has only one winner’s medal — from the 2007 Carling Cup.
Purchased by Abramovich — but not wanted by Mourinho, who didn’t buy into the ageing superstar syndrome — Ballack has generally been a huge disappointment.
Wednesday night’s outburst against Ovrebo after having a highly-debatable penalty refused, was typical of the swaggering arrogance that even his fellow Germans recognise.
Other examples include his falling-out with German general manager Oliver Bierhoff after refusing to hold up a banner thanking 35,000 fans for their support at Euro 2008 after their defeat in the final.
The gesture, which Ballack apparently thought inappropriate, was then abandoned.
He also had a very public spat with manager Joachim Loew after criticising his team selection and treatment of players.
Not all that long ago, he even got a slap on the side of the face from team-mate Lukas Podolski following a bust-up in a game against Wales in Cardiff.
It’s interesting to note that both he and Drogba are claimed to have spoken with Abramovich about their unease with former Stamford Bridge boss Phil Scolari.
Even more telling is how Drogba, sent to train with the youth team at the height of his stand-off with the Brazilian, reacted when Guus Hiddink took over.
Suddenly, the goals flowed again as he decided the new fella was worth playing for.
Now, though, it’s time for him, Ballack — and Chelsea — to move on.
Should the new manager and some fresh faces continue the club’s pursuit of serious silverware — and, just as important, improve Chelsea’s overall perception — what might be seen as a gamble will be well worth it.
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