Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that firing head coach Mike Nolan was the right move by the 49ers, but the timing was awful.

This is the theme that runs through the 49ers’ administration – it has a spectacularly lousy sense of timing.

Look, Nolan has been a toe in search of a tag since the end of last season. His flaws have been examined in minute detail, and his gifts do not measure favorably by comparison. This day was coming. It simply makes no sense to having it come Monday, unless you recognize that the 49ers don’t do anything through planning. It’s knee meets jerk, time and again.

Nolan got fired for a lot of reasons. He got fired when he did because the failings of the franchises were leading back to John York, and York hired Nolan and gave him all the decision-making power and the pulpit to be the face of the franchise so that he would provide a cushion between York and the public.

So York decided, reflexively and with no discernible strategy save getting out of the line of fire, that Nolan had finished serving the purpose for which he had been hired. York couldn’t wait one more week, when a firing would have made sense. He had to do it now, because … well, just because.

Ratto’s probably right, but once the cat was out of the bag, it’s kind of hard to get the thing back in. Sometimes it’s better to just cut your losses (at whatever time you do it) and move on. Singletary is not in a great place now, but he’s always been a motivator and who knows, maybe the 49ers can come together in the wake of this move and compete. They certainly have enough talent; they just need direction.