ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS has lost five of his last nine games — three of them at Stamford Bridge.
Now disgruntled players whisper he has also lost the Chelsea dressing room.
So how long before he loses his £4.5million-a-year job?
For if Roman Abramovich can sack Jose Mourinho after six trophies in three years, including back-to-back league titles...
If Red Rom can sack World Cup-winning boss Phil Scolari after just seven months...
And if the billionaire oligarch can sack Champions League winner Carlo Ancelotti, who brought you an historic first Double...
Then it is surely child's play for the ruthless Russian to get rid of a rookie like Villas-Boas.
Especially as the cost of keeping the 34-year-old Portuguese could far outweigh the cost of cutting him free.
His £11m pay-off pales into insignificance against the loss of Champions League football.
And do not forget that could happen as early as next week with Chelsea facing a daunting do-or-die date with Valencia. A clean sheet or a win will do for the Blues — but it is hard to guarantee either down at SW6 these days.
Long-term, the threat to Chelsea's European future is just as severe. They may be able to stomach a one-off exit before the knockout stages this time around.
After all, Manchester City are facing a similar fate.
But it is Chelsea's poor league form that risks seeing them drop out of the Champions League altogether next season.
They have lost twice as many games as any other side in the top six and conceded more goals.
And the limp, lifeless display against Liverpool this week suggests the only way is down.
The Carling Cup may not be top of anybody's agenda at Chelsea but a second defeat at home to the Merseysiders in nine days has been greeted with dismay. The alarm bells are ringing because Chelsea looked a team bereft of any passion, any plan, any purpose. A confused collection of individuals lacking leadership, heart and hunger.
The finger is inevitably being pointed at Villas-Boas. There is widespread condemnation of his team selections, his substitutions, his tactics, his game plan — or, more accurately, the lack of one.
Backroom staff were stunned on Tuesday when he started with Fernando Torres but left Juan Mata, the man best equipped to supply him, on the bench. Critics say Villas-Boas is arrogant and aloof. That he struggles to communicate his ideas to the players.
That he has embarked on revolution not evolution. That he has failed to acknowledge and appreciate just what the bulk of his Chelsea squad have achieved over the years and so alienated them.
That he is trying to teach old dogs new tricks.
Dinosaurs more like. Slow-witted, slow-footed, plodding and ponderous.
And in dire danger of extinction.
For there has been a sea-change in the game in the wake of the brilliance of Barcelona and Spain.
Chelsea's power game, based around the strength, muscle and drive of the likes of Didier Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard, is becoming obsolete. The Blues are out of step, out of touch. They've all grown old, grown stale, together.
It's actually a damaging bi-product of the club's revolving-door policy with managers. The new boss is never around long enough to make an intelligent and effective development of the Blues' star-studded squad.
The squad today is still dominated by the same warhorses — some would now say carthorses — who first won the league six long years ago.
And the largesse of Abramovich has often further complicated the issue. Think of the £50m splashed on flop Torres and the £30m wasted on a washed-up Andriy Shevchenko. Consider the £21m paid out for dodgy defender David Luiz.
There does not seem to be a coherent, joined-up strategy for running the club.
So the man who must ultimately shoulder the bulk of the blame for Chelsea's spiralling problems is the man who sits at the very top of the food chain, the Tyrannosaurus Rex of Stamford Bridge himself. His failure to learn from his mistakes, to adapt to the changing footballing climate puts his Blues on the endangered list.
And right now he is busy fighting for survival somewhere else, battling a £3.5billion court case which could itself have repercussions for Chelsea.
So the club is left with US lawyer Bruce Buck at the helm, the man at the centre of the controversy over buying Chelsea Pitch Owners shares in the hope of helping Abramovich gain control of Stamford Bridge from the fans. What a way to endear yourself to supporters.
And don't forget chief executive Ron Gourlay, who talks of world-wide brands, global partners, stadium naming rights, products and customers.
The man who tried to woo Steve Clarke back to the Bridge as coach this season but incredibly refused to tell him who the new manager would be or agree the extra £50,000 a year the Scot wanted to quit the Kop.
And who has just masterminded those two wins at Chelsea?
You couldn't make it up — happy to blow £50m on a dud but then baulks at £50,000 for a man who helped win two titles.
