"Is this the day of reckoning for them over there?" asks a lady as she walks out of the Vale of Glamorgan hotel just before noon on Tuesday.

After a brief pause, she sees fit to answer her own question. "About time."

The wheels are already in motion. This is to be how Warren Gatland left the Wales job for a second time. Not with a Grand Slam or a statue, but with a day befitting how this latest spell has unravelled.

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It didn't start like this. Gatland's return, having loomed large as a TV pundit in the final days of Wayne Pivac, saw him hastily brought back by CEO Steve Phillips in the winter of 2022 - three years after he had first left.

"I'd like to thank the WRU for keeping me away from the England job," he joked as he was paraded around the Welsh Rugby's Union's Christmas drinks - which now doubled as the New Zealander's (adopted) homecoming.

As he stood sheepishly in the corner of a hospitality box within the Principality Stadium, little did he know how his second stint was set to unfold. Almost from the off, everything about the last couple of years has not quite been right.

Yet, despite all that would happen, this wasn't the way Warren Gatland ever seemed likely to leave the Wales job.

Even in the final days of this 14-Test losing run, the culmination of a three-year second stint that has brought considerably more lows than highs, it always felt as though the exit would be more dignified.

As much as it could be for a man who lost 20 out of 26. As much as it could be for a man who, had he not picked up the phone to Welsh Rugby Union Abi Tierney first, was likely about to get the boot after a board meeting on Wednesday.

As much as a man for whom a gate was named. Simultaneously, one of Wales' best and worst coaches. The messy dichotomy of a disappointing return after having left a hero.

After 25 months of - let's call it what it was - a disastrous return, this is how it ends. Not with a bang or another gate, but with the whisper of hearsay and the shambolic shifting of press conferences. An Irish goodbye 11 days before an Irish meeting in Cardiff.

On Sunday afternoon, Gatland had been as willing as any to pose for photos with fans at the airport in Rome. Having got through the post-match press conference the night before without any indication of a departure, it seemed as though he would see out the Six Nations at least.

But then, on Monday afternoon, Gatland picked up the phone to Tierney - mere weeks after she publicly challenged him to lead him to success in the Six Nations - and instigated the 'mutual agreement' that saw him leave.

Tierney ruled out that Gatland has told her he'd "had enough", but the exact wording of his sentiments probably wouldn't have been too dissimilar. One thing was certain - the subject of his future being brought up at the board meeting on Wednesday was no longer a concern.

Instead, a board meeting was scrambled together to deal with the situation.

Later that evening, interim performance director Huw Bevan called up Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt. The wheels were in motion. At 8pm, right after Sherratt said something unrepeatable upon seeing the name of a Union employee, he was being offered the Wales job.

What would normally have been a run-of-the-mill fallow week press conference was about to be a whole lot more.

Huddling around a car in the Vale's carpark, a group of Wales squad members hang about. Gatland's impending departure is now being widely reported by most media outlets.

Gatland's management staff were informed around 9. It was just after 11 that the players were told. Now, they stand around.

As the day's plan stands, a couple of them could well be facing the press in a couple of hours' time - along with Mike Forshaw. The defence coach is supposedly in line to sit in front of the media at 1.30pm, ready to field questions about another Welsh defeat.

A Welsh coach is gone. Now the question is who will be in charge next?

One former international admits on the phone he had been due to visit camp today to see one of the players. He soon decides today maybe isn't the day to rock up.

Even if this wasn't how Gatland 2.0 was ever likely to end, with rumour and speculation, it had been coming. His position as Wales coach was untenable after the latest defeat to Italy. In truth, it was before even before the trip to Rome.

Clearly, having picked up the phone to Tierney, he knew that now. Gatland's second spell in charge has been rife with missteps and mistakes.

Brought back by Phillips, the CEO to whom Gatland would answer to directly, his new boss wouldn't be around for long. Within weeks, a sexism scandal engulfed the Union, forcing Phillips out with a sizeable pay-off and leaving Gatland to answer questions about a "toxic culture" before he had time to talk rugby.

Things wouldn't get much better. His first Six Nations in 2023 was nearly derailed by strike action ahead of the England game. Spin and counter-spin ruled within the weeks before Welsh rugby's sliding doors moment. The mood was fraught and, even by his own admission, Gatland did little to help matters.

He wrote in a newspaper column that the players had hurt his feelings, while it's understood he also told his squad they would be denying Mason Grady a debut against England. Perhaps stung by the experience, he changed tack - easing off during a week in Nice later in the tournament.

It worked - with a win in Rome and promising performance in Paris laying some foundations for a solid World Cup in France later that year. Of course, even that wasn't all smooth-sailing. There were retirements, complaints about training camps and his methods and inadvisable soundbites - like the suggestion he wouldn't have returned to Welsh rugby had he known how bad things were.

Of course, things would only get worse.

There's about an hour to go until the press conference. There's still no sign of an official announcement on Gatland. Or who will be up at the press conference.

The clock is ticking. Tierney or Forshaw? 'Whose call was it, Abi?' or 'Any knocks from the weekend, Mike?' It could be either.

Either way, phones are going crazy. There's whispers of Sherratt going around. Sources confirm it's looking likely. Cardiff have been approached.

Word arrives that the next Wales coach - albeit on an interim basis - is currently out leading a training session on the Arms Park pitch.

The World Cup in France was a brief respite from the mire. Four wins from four for Wales and Gatland. Pride put back in the jersey. A quarter-final exit that depending on your stance was either par for the course or an overachievement.

It was done in typical Gatland fashion. Back to basics, the message was about 'clarity' internally. Externally, he told critics Wales would surprise some teams.

Had Gatland gone at that point, his second spell could easily have been defined as a success. But he stayed, looking to help with the rebuild as Wales' golden generation moved on.

But, what has become increasingly apparent is Gatland's touch for decision-making has drifted. Keeping players on board has become a struggle.

Rhys Carre was bombed out of a World Cup training squad because of his weight. Alex Mann apologised to his club to say he had been misquoted after Gatland paraphrased a comment in a press conference. Sam Parry walked out of camp last summer after feeling disrespected.

On the same tour, Gatland drew criticism for handing Cory Hill the captaincy after his own indiscretions. Another situation that the former Wales coach just seemed to misjudge.

Selection, so often the thing that defined him in the first tenure, eluded him in his second. Ben Thomas, a centre for club, has bore the brunt of some Welsh fans' frustration as Gatland continued to pick him at fly-half.

There were suggestions of players being frustrated by methods in the autumn. One apparently came close to walking out. From the clarity of 2023, Welsh players were now craving detail. Their feedback in the post-autumn review was hardly glowing, it has been suggested.

The same messages that Gatland had put out there publicly before - 'write us off at your peril' - just didn't garner the same belief within the squad. With that came a winless 2024, a wooden spoon and the first possibility - with an offer of resignation after the Italy defeat last year - that things wouldn't end well.

Fourteen defeats in a row - the inverse of the winning run in Gatland's final year in charge the first time around that lifted Wales to number one in the world. Through it all, Gatland bemoaned the negativity within the Welsh game.

At times, that infuriated some, given how far Wales were slipping behind the rest. "All these records are happening under his watch," noted one former Wales international privately recently.

Even the queue of ex-players lining up to defend Gatland was getting shorter and shorter.

"What time will the press conference start?" asks one man, sat outside the Vale's golf club. Having been around for half an hour, they've built up a decent picture of what's happening.

There's a coaching change afoot, they've gleaned. Gatland is no more. "Never a dull day in Welsh rugby," they add.

Then, their thoughts turn to who will be up at the press conference. "Who's taking the blame then?"

The argument has been made by some that Gatland isn't solely to blame for Welsh rugby's problems. I'm not sure anyone was suggesting he was.

You'd be daft to think that. The myriad of ills within the Welsh game have been plentiful. Many are to blame for where we find ourselves now, the result of years and years of negligence and poor decisions.

Of course Welsh rugby's problems go well beyond the national team coach. But, let's be honest about it, the national team has always been the focal point of the game in this country. Almost to the detriment of the game as a whole, everything has revolved around the national team. Now, the jewel in the crown is drifting towards disrepair - 14 straight defeats at Test level. The big money-maker now looking increasingly unhealthy.

So don't be surprised when the buck stops with the national team coach. The man himself seemed increasingly resigned to his fate, essentially avoiding questions about his own desire to stay in the role long after offering his resignation last year.

Six years after saying he hoped Wales wouldn't return to the doldrums after he departed, Wales instead reached new lows while he was back.

An official announcement finally arrives. Gatland gone, Sherratt in temporary charge. The press conference pushed back for another 90 minutes.

Still though, more people arrive as the scale of the story brings interest. This is no longer a run-of-the-mill Tuesday press conference.

"It was meant to be a rest week," jokingly bemoans one attendee setting up a camera and tripod.

With Gatland gone, the pressure now firmly shifts to those at the top of the Union. Sherratt sat at the centre of the top table on Tuesday, but it was Tierney who fielded the majority of the questions.

This never felt like the display of a Union that had made a strong decision. Instead, in a chaotic 24 hours, things had seemingly stumbled clumsily into place.

It was Tierney who had backed Gatland after the winless 2024. She had banked on success in the Six Nations to save him. It wasn't forthcoming.

The pressure will now be on her to get the appointment right. Phillips, after the stick Pivac got for not being Gatland, reached for the familiar. She doesn't even have that comfort.

However, she insists money is no issue in the search for Gatland's successor. The likes of Michael Chieka, Simon Easterby, Franco Smith or Steve Tandy won't be missed for a lack of cash, it would seem.

First though ideally, getting a director of rugby in place is key. Interim Huw Bevan will also play a role in the search for a coach, with the succession plan already in motion.

Both appointments will be crucial to Tierney's own future. The decision to not accept Gatland's resignation offer last year - however genuine it was - still rankles with some. She doesn't regret not accepting it.

The insistence is that there is plenty of interest in the job. It's still a Test job after all.

Sherratt, who will divide his duties between club and country this week before devoting his time fully to Wales from Monday, doesn't want the job full time. Three matches is enough, before returning to his long-term deal at Cardiff. But Tierney did point out the strengths he brings that will also be needed from the next hire.

"Somebody who can lift a young team and give them that confidence is also going to be really important," said Tierney. "Somebody who has got the experience of winning is going to be important."

Things that Gatland once had, but seemingly no longer - at least on recent evidence - possesses.

"In terms of characteristics it was quite interesting when Matt was the obvious choice for interim coach what we are doing with the regions now," added Tierney. "Somebody who is a natural collaborator, somebody who can work across the ecosystem is going to be really important because I think that's one of the things we haven't been able to do as successfully as we should have been able to do in the past."

Even by his own admission, that's never been Gatland's focus. Getting someone to do that next is obvious. In that sense, all the right noises - but execution will be crucial.

After a day of rumours and whispers, Sherratt - still in his Cardiff gear after rushing from the Arms Park - arrives for his quickfire coronation.

"All the Cardiff players have been released from the squad," jokes Sherratt as he heads for the exit door, with one eye still on Connacht this weekend. Some much-needed levity after all the day's twists and turns.

As Sherratt heads up to the training barn to put on some Wales clothing for official photographs, attention turns to the task at hand.

"Guys, I'm going to have to ask you to move so I can clear the tables," says a member of staff as journalists frantically tap up quotes. The room needs switching around for another function. Life moves on and all that.

The end of Gatland and Wales. Not with a gate, nor a trophy. But with whispers, rumours and a hasty farewell. It all feels a bit sad.

"About time." Unfortunately so.