Recent poor form combined with last night's crushing 3-1 defeat to Napoli has left many wondering how much longer Andre Villas-Boas is going to be in a job for. As is always the case at Chelsea, there has been no public backing for the manager from their very silent owner.
Indeed, the night started so well for Villas-Boas and his men – Juan Mata toe-poking a close range volley past the Napoli keeper to give them a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. But by half-time the home side had over-turned the deficit and it was 2-1.
The second half saw relentless pressure from Chelsea, but as was the case with Manchester City merely a few months ago, they were simply unable to break down their opponent's defence and were inevitably hit on the counter attack to give the score a more convincing look.
"Look at Fernando Torres – no one is talking of sacking him with his £50 million price tag."
Many will now be questioning whether Villas-Boas can continue in his job, with talk of him having lost the support of a number of players, but the fact is, it would be simply foolish to sack him now.
The first and, in my opinion, the most abundantly obvious reason not to call time on the Portuguese's time in charge is the quite staggering amount of money Roman Abramovich lavished in trying to bring him to the club. After all his success with Porto, the Russian oligarch shelled out £15 million, no less.
It broke all records for compensation paid for a manager. At that cost, you do not want to be pulling the trigger less than 12 months later. Look at Fernando Torres – no one is talking of sacking him with his £50 million price tag.
Of course, money is not the only reason Villas-Boas should keep his job. Whatever anyone says, he is a very good young manager who undoubtedly has a bright future in the game. He was the man all Chelsea fans wanted in charge, so make the most of having him.
It is true, Chelsea's Champions' League hopes hang in tatters right now, but unlike Arsenal, the situation is still salvageable. Likewise, their current standing of fifth in the Premier League does not make good viewing for fans, but they must accept this is a transitional phase for their side.
Many of the players who were such a big part of their success four or five seasons ago have either left or are now well over 30. The Frank Lampards, the Didier Drogbas, the Ashley Coles are simply not the players who can bring success back to Chelsea.
Villas-Boas' transfer policy, therefore, has been shrewd. He has brought in the likes of Juan Mata, Gary Cahill and Romelu Lukaku in an attempt to add a bit of youth to his ageing side. Furthermore, adopted a more inclusive approach to young players like Daniel Sturridge who were already at the club.
The final point I will make, though, is success takes time – whatever Manchester City and Chelsea fans of old will tell you. Villas-Boas simply cannot walk into Chelsea and undo all the problems that were already there. He is a good manager, but he is not a magician.
Just one look at the team he fielded against Napoli last night proves that this is not 'his team', most of the players were already at the club and the manager cannot be blamed for their mistakes. In 18 months time perhaps we will be able to look at the Chelsea team and say whether Villas-Boas is doing a good job.
Until then, he must absolutely keep his job. It would be a mistake to let him go, and I could really see it coming back to bite Chelsea one day. The club need some solidarity and some structure, the chairman needs to back his manager.
If they do that, maybe, just maybe, success for Chelsea is not too far around the corner.
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