WHEN Andre Villas-Boas arrived at Stamford Bridge, I'm sure he knew there would come a time when he had to make some tough decisions.
I'm equally certain he didn't think that day would come quite so quickly.
But if Sunday's defeat to Liverpool — the first time in nearly a decade Chelsea have lost two home league games on the run — showed anything, it's that he has to display his ruthless streak now.
By that I mean making decisions which, while they won't please everyone, are absolutely vital to CHANGE THINGS AROUND.
And if he wants living proof of what I mean, he just needs to cast a glance at Alex Ferguson, the master of them all, and how he has shown his teeth over the years.
For when it comes to big decisions, the words "emotion" and "sentiment" simply aren't in Fergie's vocabulary. As many have found out over the years.
I remember one summer when he let Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis all leave.
At the time it seemed a heck of a step to take. It wasn't as if everyone was thinking his United team needed dismantling. But I also recall how, come the end of the following season, a new-look United packed full of kids ended up winning the Double. Well, that's the sort of decision Villas-Boas faces. And one he has to do so with the strength and belief in his own methods, regardless of what others suggest.
There are a few of the old guard who should be under a lot more pressure for places than they find themselves.
Before anyone starts naming names, I'd like to make it clear one of them, Frank Lampard, is still good for another three or four years at the Bridge.
For what Frank also offers is a wealth of experience and know-how that can only help the kids.
And Lamps is such a professional he will pass it on for the good of the club, with no thought of individual pros and cons.
To be honest, the Chelsea scouting system, and the Academy set-up, should have better people coming through and pushing the established stars.
OK, we've seen Daniel Sturridge pushing Didier Drogba and Co, but he has to play more games against the top sides, it will only raise standards even higher.
But there was all the talk of young Josh McEachran, and the closest he gets is a place on the bench really. There's even been talk of him going out on loan.
Villas-Boas will have to be clever with how he goes about it, but the one thing he cannot deviate from is being ruthless — because Chelsea is a club which HAS to be challenging for everything going.
If he does it his way and it still doesn't work, then fair enough. But he has to stand or fall by his own beliefs — and be given the time to do so.
He's had to deal with a lot of stuff off the field a new manager certainly wouldn't expect at this stage and there are a lot of strong personalities in the dressing room.
But all this talk of Villas-Boas' future is nonsense right now. For he HAS to be given time to build his own team, to buy his own players and to do things his way.
He's come into a club where, let's face it, to the outsiders it looks as if there's a bit of disharmony in the camp.
He's come into a club which, for all it's packed with world-class names, has a lot of players coming to the latter stages of their careers.
And right now they find themselves under the sort of pressure they'd only expect in the closing weeks of the season.
They've already reached the stage where every game is a cup final, because of the situation they find themselves in. Lose to Manchester City in a couple of weeks and you'd have to say the league would be out of sight.
Failure to top their Champions League group leaves them open to facing the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and the European giants straight away.
All of which means there is an even greater onus on the old heads to help the younger ones handle it. That's why I take my hat off to Arsenal for the way they've bounced back.
And talking of my old team, no one was better in times of strife than George Graham.
George was great at making us believe everyone hated us.
Even when we'd win, he would point out a negative, all designed to make us realise how important it was to stand together.
That's what Villas-Boas has to do now as well — and over the next few weeks we'll know for certain if that Stamford Bridge dressing room is united or not.
If things haven't taken a big upturn, we'll know that people clearly are unhappy and there is dissension in the ranks.
The only way to get out of this hole is with a ruthless boss who is doing things his way, with the players all of the same mind.
If not, you'd have to fear the worst for them this season... and if I was a Chelsea fan I'd be concerned in the extreme.
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