He has only been in charge since July 2019 but Frank Lampard's reign as Chelsea boss is seemingly under considerable threat.
Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City – a game in which Lampard said his side were taught "serious lessons" – was the Blues' fourth Premier League defeat since the start of December, when they fleetingly topped the table.
Only relegation favourites West Brom (five) and Sheffield United (six) have suffered more in the same period.
The loss leaves them on 26 points – three fewer than they had at the same stage last season – with history showing the west London outfit have never finished higher than sixth when amassing no more than that number of points after 17 games.
It marks a sorry transformation in fortunes for Lampard, who is the club's record goalscorer and one of its most beloved former players.
Here, we look at what has gone wrong for the 42-year-old this season and assess who might replace him, should Blues owner Roman Abramovich decide a change is required.
Big names not performing
Lampard oversaw a spend of more than £220million in the most recent transfer window, but his two marquee signings have failed to deliver.
Timo Werner arrived from RB Leipzig in a £47m deal after scoring 28 goals and making eight for his team-mates last season.
He has contributed four goals and as many assists in his 17 league appearances for the Blues this term, however, while his touches in the opposition box have fallen from an average of 7.65 per game in the 2019-20 season to 5.29 with Chelsea.
He is not the only Bundesliga import struggling, though, and Lampard could do with the real Kai Havertz standing up.
Given he cost Chelsea a fee in the region of £70m when coming in from Bayer Leverkusen, the Chelsea boss would have anticipated more than one goal in his first 15 Premier League games.
Havertz's role at Chelsea may not be exactly as it was at Leverkusen and the 21-year-old has had to contend with a bout of COVID-19, but he is spending the bulk of his time in the same areas of the field and not coming up with the same goods.
He has had just two big chances compared to the 18 he enjoyed during his final campaign with Leverkusen, while his average of 2.5 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes in England's top flight is comfortably shy of the 5.1 he had in his final season in Germany.
High-profile coaches lurking
There are a number of significant names waiting in the wings should Lampard be given the boot.
Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has been linked with the position in recent days and the Northern Irishman has strong links to the club. He was appointed their head youth coach in 2004 before being promoted to reserve team manager two years later.
He guided the Foxes to fifth place last season – just four points behind fourth-placed Chelsea – and has overseen an impressive start to this campaign, with the club third after winning 10 of their opening 17 games.
Thomas Tuchel would also likely be near the front of the queue after his dismissal as Paris Saint-Germain boss at the end of December.
Maurizio Sarri was in charge before Lampard and the club might opt to return to Italy for their next man, with Massimiliano Allegri still out of work.
The 53-year-old left Juventus at the end of the 2018-19 campaign after securing his fifth consecutive Serie A title in charge of the Bianconeri - the kind of record surely guaranteed to turn Abramovich's head.
Not all doom and gloom
While Lampard does have the lowest points-per-game ratio of any permanent Chelsea manager since Abramovic took over the club in 2003 (1.67 per game), there is some cause for optimism for the former England midfielder.
The Blues play sides from the bottom half of the Premier League table in five of their next seven top-flight matches, while they can prepare for that run with what looks like an easy FA Cup third-round clash against Morecambe, should the weekend tie even go ahead as the League Two outfit grapple with a coronavirus outbreak.
Despite results not going in their favour over recent weeks, Lampard's side are scoring more goals and conceding fewer than they did last season. On average, they are scoring 1.9 goals per game this season compared to 1.8 last term and are letting in 1.2 per game this time around compared to 1.4 in the 2019-20 season.
There is also the small matter of the Champions League knockout stages to look forward to after they came out on top of Group E with four wins from their six games.
Atletico Madrid await in the last 16 and Lampard will dearly hope he is still in a position to pit his wits against Diego Simeone come the first leg on February 23.
West Ham hero Jarrod Bowen says last-minute winner ‘best moment of my career’
Jarrod Bowen admitted scoring the winning goal in a European final was beyond his wildest dreams,
Bowen’s last-minute strike secured a dramatic 2-1 victory for West Ham over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final and ended their 43-year wait for a trophy.
The 26-year-old winger raced on to Lucas Paqueta’s through-ball and slotted home to spark wild celebrations on the pitch, the touchline and in the stands.
“I can’t sum it up, it’s the best feeling I’ve had in my career,” said Bowen.
“When I went through I had a lot of time and it was just about making sure you put it in.
“The keeper came out and I think I fell over, I looked up and the ball was going in and I thought ‘no, this isn’t happening’.
“I spoke to my family before and said ‘imagine scoring a goal in the last minute’. To bring a trophy to this club is the best moment of my career.
“The fans as well, seeing them after the game I was a bit lost for words. It’s the best feeling of my life, never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d win a European trophy.
“I’m so buzzing, all of us are just going to go mad I think. You have to celebrate.
“When the final whistle went I just thought’ this party is going to be crazy. I’m just a little boy from Leominster who never thought I’d be talking like this. My family are crying and it just shows me how far I’ve come.”
West Ham led through a Said Benrahma penalty on the hour but were immediately pegged back by Giacomo Bonaventura’s strike.
But when Bowen raced through with a minute to go, boss David Moyes almost found himself going full Jose Mourinho.
“The moment he went through I was edging down the touchline,” he said. “If it was going to be anyone, I thought ‘this is the moment’.
“But I couldn’t do a full Mourinho knee slide as the grass was a bit dry and I’d have ended up on my belly.”
I thought I was going to cry – Jarrod Bowen emotional as West Ham win trophy
Jarrod Bowen was close to tears as he celebrated scoring the goal which won West Ham the Europa Conference League.
Bowen raced on to Lucas Paqueta’s brilliant pass in the 90th minute and slotted past Pietro Terracciano to earn the Hammers a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in Prague.
It secured the club’s first piece of silverware since the 1980 FA Cup and their first European trophy since 1965.
Bowen told BT Sport: “You always say you want to score in the last minute and to do it here in front of these fans, I thought I was going to cry.
“I’m so happy. We haven’t had the best season, myself included, but to do it tonight, I’m over the moon.
“I think in my position you make that run 10 times you might get that ball once. As soon as you get it you’ve got to put it away.”
Bowen had earlier won the penalty from which Said Benrahma opened the scoring but Giacomo Bonaventura equalised just four minutes later for the Serie A side.
But with the game appearing set to head to extra-time, Bowen struck his 13th goal of the campaign and earned West Ham a place in next season’s Europa League.
The England international added: “Never (have I felt like this in my life). This is the biggest game of my career. The emotion, there was time for one more chance. I’m just so happy. I’m over the moon.
“I’m thinking of the party tonight. Listen to it. Listen.”
Jarrod Bowen nets late goal as West Ham win Europa Conference League
Jarrod Bowen’s last-minute winner saw West Ham end their 43-year wait for a trophy with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final.
The Hammers won a first piece of silverware since 1980’s FA Cup, and a first European trophy since 1965, on a historic and emotional night in Prague.
Yes, it may be only Europe’s third-tier competition, the one treated as an unwanted distraction by Tottenham, among others, in its inaugural form last season.
But this is West Ham. The West Ham who routinely see relegation as an occupational hazard. The West Ham who made a song and dance of leaving their old stadium and an almighty hash of moving into the new one. The West Ham who had to go begging to their former manager to save them from the drop, 18 months after they got rid of him when he had done just that.
Just nine weeks ago that same manager watched as the away fans unfurled a ‘Moyes Out’ banner during a scratchy 1-0 win over Fulham, which likely saved his job.
Now David Moyes has written his name in West Ham folklore, joining Ron Greenwood and John Lyall as trophy-winning Hammers managers. A place in next season’s Europa League means the club has qualified for Europe three campaigns in a row, for the first time.
And what a way to sign off for Declan Rice, destined to leave this summer but with the legacy of becoming only the third captain, along with Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds, to lift silverware in the club’s 128-year history.
The Hammers have given their fans, 5,000 of whom were – officially at least – in attendance and the 20,000-or so who just wanted to be in Prague for their first European final in 47 years, the ride of their lives.
A campaign that began in August – three prime ministers ago – and has taken in trips to Denmark (twice), Belgium, Romania, Cyprus, Belgium again, and the Netherlands, finally culminated in a glory night in the Czech capital.
West Ham’s supporters occupied at least two thirds of the Eden Arena and could have sold out the 20,000-seater stadium three times over, so it was a shame to see hundreds of empty seats in the Fiorentina end.
Their travelling support has been almost exclusively good-natured throughout the campaign, so it was also a shame to see West Ham fans throwing missiles onto the pitch at Fiorentina players.
They were mainly plastic pint cups, but just before half-time at least one more sinister object left Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi with a nasty cut on the back of his head, forcing referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande to briefly halt play while a message over the PA system implored the fans to stop throwing missiles. A UEFA inquest will surely follow.
At the next Fiorentina corner Christian Kouame’s header came back off a post and Luka Jovic prodded in the rebound, but to West Ham’s – and particularly goalkeeper Alphonse Areola’s – relief he was flagged offside.
The Hammers occasionally threatened on the counter-attack in a predictably cagey first half, but Michail Antonio’s low shot was saved by Pietro Terracciano and an effort from Rice from Vladimir Coufal’s half-cleared throw bounced wide.
Del Cerro Grande had frustrated West Ham with some strange decisions, but not even the eccentric Spanish referee could turn down their appeals for a penalty on the hour after checking the pitchside monitor.
The ball clearly hit Biraghi’s hand after Bowen controlled it with his chest, and Said Benrahma tucked the spot-kick high into the net in front of the Hammers’ faithful.
But Fiorentina equalised just four minutes later when Nicolas Gonzalez won a header and the ball fell for Giacomo Bonaventura to control and fire between Rice and Nayef Aguerd into the far corner.
They almost immediately took the lead but Rolando Mandragora steered his shot wide from in front of goal.
But West Ham regained their composure and Tomas Soucek, back at the home ground of his former club Slavia Prague, was twice denied by Terracciano.
Then came the big moment. Lucas Paqueta’s through-ball finally caught out Fiorentina’s high line and there was Bowen, scampering clear and slotting past Terracciano.
Cue bedlam on the pitch, on the touchline and in the stands. The wait was over and West Ham could finally celebrate some silverware.
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