Sackings – or management restructures – are one of the most difficult and complicated things to pull off in normal office life.

First, there are the endless disciplinary procedures. Then there is the bureaucratic minefield you have to negotiate to avoid unfair dismissal.

And, after all that, there is the emotional turmoil the person firing the bullet goes through in the lead-up to his Alan Sugar moment.

It is not an easy thing to do at the best of times, so I can’t imagine what it must be like telling someone they are surplus to requirements when everything seems rosy.

Based on that alone, London Welsh chief executive Peter Thomas must be ice cold.

Two weeks ago, the Dragons at Old Deer Park moved up to fourth in the National Division One table with a 9-6 triumph at Otley – their highest league position at this stage of a season for some time.

A fortnight on and director of rugby Martin Jones – one of the game’s nice guys – had been relieved of first-team duties with only the offer of a ‘significant development role’ as consolation. An explanation is still to be offered.

Welsh turned professional in the summer with Jones still at the helm, having kept the club in the second tier of rugby largely against the odds in recent seasons.

While the majority of clubs in the competition have slowly moved to full-time set-ups, Jones has worked on a comparative shoestring part-time budget until this season.

Probably his greatest achievement came in the 2006-07 season, when he overcame a crippling injury list to lead a seemingly doomed team to safety after a run of one win in 11 games left them in danger.

Thomas has made no secret of his ambitions to make the Exiles a major player in Welsh rugby, always with half an eye on making them the WRU’s unofficial fifth region if they can’t win acceptance into the Magners League.

Five days before the Jones bombshell, the RFU announced a major overhaul of the English League structure – championed by Thomas – where a top-four finish would give a realistic shot at reaching the Guinness Premiership.

Jones’s departure has echoes of England head coach Brian Ashton’s exit after leading his country to the World Cup final against the odds.

Martin Johnson’s brave new world has not had an easy ride. Welsh fans can only hope Danny Wilson’s first game in charge – a 36-30 defeat at Nottingham – is not a sign of things to come.