Jose Mourinho repeatedly stated, prior to his sacking, that there would be no new signings in January.
He insisted that he, as manager, did not have the right to ask the club for extra players , and that the ones presently on the books should be good enough to drag the side out of their present plight.
We will never know how amenable Chelsea would have been towards restocking Mourinho's war chest in January 2016, and it is worth remembering that going into practically every transfer window he would make similar claims.
Each time players were bought.
This was part kidology by Mourinho, trying to turn the gaze of both his own players and opponents away from where he believed weaknesses to lie; part market manipulation to throw other clubs off the scent of his targets and keep prices down; and also part internal politics at Chelsea.
On that latter point, the days when Roman Abramovich was ready to chuck tens of millions in any window at practically any target are long gone; and he does now seem to need persuading in order to shell out at all.
Particularly he has learned, since the disastrous double splurge on Fernando Torres and David Luiz in January 2011, that mid-season is not a time for major purchases.
In the four winter windows since that, the Blues' dealings have been extremely subdued, and the then manager's influence over targets limited.
In January 2012 Gary Cahill, Lucas Piazon, Kevin De Bruyne and Patrick Bamford were brought in – none of them the preferred options of boss Andre Villas-Boas.
He had wanted Ryan Shawcross for central defence instead of Cahill, and admitted the other three were all club projects rather than first team options.
The following New Year, under the interim direction of Rafael Benitez, Chelsea signed only Demba Ba – again, not the boss' preferred target, but a tentative admission by the club that faith in Torres was foundering.
In the first winter window of Mourinho's second spell it was manager's target Nemanja Matic, Michael Emenalo's man Mohamed Salah, and Kurt Zouma – who was brought in by the technical director, but actually ended up becoming a favourite of the manager.
And last January saw the disastrous recruitment of Juan Cuadrado – basically an attempt by Mourinho to bank the cash from Andre Schurrle's sale, lest it be lost to some other part of the club's maze of finances.
What we learn from all this is that Chelsea managers very rarely make significant signings in January, and that the vast majority of players who come in then are down to a club policy to buy and sell talent for financial, rather than footballing gains.
Will this change now Guus Hiddink is in temporary charge?
There is a clear need to cement a couple of cracks in the squad.
The long-term search to fill the boots of John Terry, looking increasingly more likely to be vacated this summer, will surely go on.
Emenalo signing Papy Djilobodji, still awaiting his second minute of football this season, is surely not seen at any level as a viable replacement for the Blues' captain.
In the past, as in the case of both Luiz and Torres, the club has tried to sort out failed summer business at the next opportunity – so another bid for John Stones cannot be ruled out.
Though, as far as Everton are concerned, bridges were pretty much burned between the clubs over what they considered an insultingly low first bid for the English defender.
Up front, Chelsea are looking to invest in different ways: with the attempt to get Didier Drogba in as a non-playing mentor for Diego Costa (and others) seen as the best way to improve striking options.
Radamel Falcao's loan deal is likely to be curtailed, so there should be some sort of replacement in the form of a third-choice striker, set for very limited game time.
And there will likely be other deals, of the financially acquisitive type. But those hoping for a new raft of players to replace the ones perceived to have failed Mourinho are likely to be very sorely disappointed.
Have your say on who should stay and who should go with our interactive keep or sell gadget:
