Ray Wilkins's removal as Chelsea's assistant manager is an odd one, alright.

Last night, he sat next to Carlo Ancelotti during the 1-0 win against Fulham, and today he watched a reserve team match at the Blues' Cobham training ground.

At half-time, he was reportedly called away and given his marching orders.

Hardly the most dignified exit for a man who brought a welcome touch of grace and humility to Chelsea.

Everyone in football agrees that Wilkins is a thoroughly nice man. Yet, whatever the circumstances of his sacking, his absence will not be keenly felt.

Not because there is anything wrong with Wilkins, you understand. But because the position of assistant manager simply isn't that important - especially for clubs with competent managers.

We like to imagine that number twos are actually the brains of the operation, the power behind the throne.

Brian Clough's assistant Peter Taylor is a case in point - the film version of The Damned United is basically a love story between the two, culminating in Clough's admission that he is nothing without Taylor.

But that is cinema. In any case, Taylor was a special case whose chief skill was actually as a scout, identifying players for Clough to bring in.

His importance was also increased by Clough's cavalier attitude to tactics and training.

The same slapdash trait does not exist in Carlo Ancelotti or any other of today's leading bosses.

Assistant managers might sit in the same dug-out as the gaffer, and do the odd post-match interview, but do not be fooled into thinking they are important.

Steve Clarke was hailed as Mourinho's training-ground general, yet remarkably the Special One has coped without the Scot at Internazionale and Real Madrid.

Clarke's so-called magic was not enough to keep Gianfranco Zola in a job at West Ham, and both men are now unemployed.

When Alex Ferguson's long-time assistant Brian Kidd left Manchester United in 1998, many predicted dire consequences.

A year later, United had won the treble and Kidd had got Blackburn relegated.

Steve McClaren, Jimmy Ryan, Carlos Queiroz (twice) and Walter Smith (briefly) all came and went without any appreciable effect on United's results. Mike Phelan now sits next to Fergie and talks to the BBC for him.

And what of Pat Rice, Arsene Wenger's trusty lieutenant? How much credit does he deserve for the Gunners' success?

I suspect Wenger had kept him on simply because he's good at putting out cones on the London Colney training pitch and he knows where the biscuits are kept.

As for Liverpool, Paco Ayestaran's departure in 2007 has been pinpointed by many as the beginning of the end for Rafa Benitez's reign.

But that didn't stop Benitez's Paco-less Reds finishing second in the Premier League two years later, losing just twice in 38 games.

What of Chelsea without Wilkins?

Ancelotti wrote in his recent autobiography: "Ray is a real blue-blood, Chelsea flows in his veins. Without him, we couldn't have won a thing."

Kind words, but the fact the Italian was happy to lose Wilkins suggests he might have been exaggerating a touch.

Butch was a familiar and friendly face around the club, and perhaps an important figure in helping Ancelotti to bring the squad on side.

But the manager's English is now up to scratch, and the players trust him, making Wilkins expendable.

His removal is unexpected and ruthless, but don't expect the effects to be felt on the pitch.