Pressure is mounting on Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, as his expensively assembled team continue to struggle.
Four recent defeats in the Premier League have seen the Blues slip down the table, though they are still within touching distance of those above them.
The issue seems to be that a number of new signings just aren’t gelling, and with the likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz not finding the back of the net, the west Londoners are struggling through games.
The gulf between them and Manchester City at the weekend was an almighty chasm, and hinted at the amount of work Lampard needs to do in order to get the club where owner, Roman Abramovich, arguably wants them to be.
Despite the poor run of form, Stan Collymore has urged the club to be patient with their former midfielder.
“I really hope Abramovich looks around the Premier League and sees that England’s two most successful clubs in the past few seasons haven’t arrived at their success by chopping and changing managers,” he wrote in his column for the Daily Mirror.
“Jurgen Klopp has achieved great things at Liverpool but it took him much longer than the year-and-a-bit Lampard has had at Chelsea.
“While Pep Guardiola was hired by Manchester City to build a dynasty and wasn’t fired in or at the end of those two seasons in which he failed to win the Premier League.
“At Manchester United, the owners and board have supported Ole Gunnar Solskjaer through some tough times, while Mourinho will have at least three or four years at Tottenham if he keeps his nose clean.
“Arsenal have resisted sacking Mikel Arteta despite some calls for him to go in recent weeks and, barring City, who are arguably Chelsea’s equal, the rest are all bigger club’s than the Russian’s.
“So I hope Abramovich keeps his eye on the prize and gives Lampard time to make mistakes, gain experience and grow into the manager I know he will become.
“Because I guarantee that if he does then in two or three years, Lampard will build a team capable of winning the title.”
Abramovich isn’t known for his patience, so unless Lampard turns things around quickly, there’s every reason to believe he will be handed his P45.