This is the question fans might be entitled to ask after the spectacular falling-out of Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
The Portuguese manager was sacked for the third time in five years after losing the dressing room at Old Trafford which, to put it mildly, has seen better days.
It also has been reported that the club was given an ultimatum by the senior players: it's him or us.
Players always win in such cases and Mourinho had to go.
The controversial Portuguese was also relieved of his Chelsea post in 2015 after a dismal season and two years earlier he was shown the door by Real Madrid after falling out with several senior players, among them goalkeeper Iker Casillas and defender Sergio Ramos.
The suggestion was then as it is now, that some key players wilfully did not perform at their best in order to accelerate the departure of the coach they did not like working with.
I find such a scenario highly unlikely.
Firstly, not doing your duty when you are getting paid very well is irresponsible and simply dishonest. Particularly if you are a star.
Secondly, it must be very hard for any professional player to underperform on purpose even if he is unhappy or frustrated.
Thirdly, a player has a lot to lose if he is seen as a bad influence within a group. Who would be foolish enough to sign such a rebel?
And fourthly, when clubs change coaches or managers mid-stream it takes a while for things to get back to normal and many times the season ends up as a write-off so everybody loses.
There is a big difference between players losing faith in their coach or manager and trying to get him sacked.
Players might be bored with or angered by the antics of their boss but once they step across that white line they will always be as professional as can be under the circumstances.
If they play badly it's because they are unhappy, bored or confused - not because they want to.
If they wish their coach to be dismissed they will make their move off the field and vent their frustrations and exert their influence at board level.
Mourinho got offside with some of his players when he started criticising them in public.
He obviously knew that's a no-no but, being the Machiavellian character that he is, he could have been sending an indirect message to the club board that its failure to give him more funds to sign better players was affecting results on the field.
Mourinho also did not endear himself to the club when he turned up for a Munich tragedy memorial last February in trainers.
The suspicion is that big players like Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez and their friends in the media might have created a narrative of disillusionment and discontent so as to hide their technical shortcomings on the field.
This could have been a convenient way for Real Madrid's stars to explain their failure to win the UEFA Champions League at a time when bitter rivals Barcelona were regarded as the world's finest team.
The same might apply to Manchester United who are clearly living in the shadow of their traditional enemy Liverpool and crosstown rivals Manchester City.
