For the second consecutive season, Gladbach have changed head coach within the opening three matchdays of the Bundesliga campaign. Polanski had himself inherited the job from Gerardo Seoane last year, and was now forced to vacate his own seat following three straight defeats to start this season.
Sporting director Rouven Schröder made the writing on the wall clear immediately after Saturday's humiliating 5-0 defeat at SC Freiburg.
"We will look inward, and have that conversation with Eugen as well. Also with the team council and everyone who was involved today, about whether we want to continue in this form," Schröder said. The answer, ultimately, was no.
The root causes of the crisis run deeper than a lack of points. The most obvious is a defence that has looked fragile all year. Gladbach struggled with a back five last season, and Polanski switched to a back four this campaign, but the change has not solved anything: 12 goals conceded after three matches is a historic low point for the club.
The mood around Borussia Monchengladbach had been reasonably positive before the season began. The summer transfers appeared well thought through, and the sporting leadership believed the new squad had taken a clear step up in quality.
That assessment proved wrong. Central midfield in particular has been a problem area, with the departures of Yannik Engelhardt, 25, and Rocco Reitz, 24, never properly replaced.
Several key new arrivals were also injured almost immediately, ruling them out for extended periods. A genuine leader has been hard to find in the squad. Returning forward Tim Kleindienst, 31, appeared to try to raise the intensity but missed the mark entirely, while serious individual errors kept occurring with alarming regularity, gifting opponents several goals along the way.
Polanski was unable to get on top of the many problems and, most critically, burned through the trust of the club's hierarchy and supporters, patience that had run unusually deep given his long history with the club.