Mauricio Pochettino is under pressure just six games into his Chelsea tenure (Picture: Getty)
Darren Bent has warned Mauricio Pochettino he will be sacked before Christmas if he is unable to arrest Chelsea’s slide towards the relegation zone.
Despite over £500million having been spent on new players in the summer, the Blues have shown little or no improvement over the course of the opening six games of the new Premier League campaign.
Sunday’s 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa represented another significant setback for Pochettino, whose side now sit in 14th place in the fledgling table, just four points above the relegation zone.
A crippling injury list has undermined the former Tottenham manager’s hopes of making a more positive start to his Stamford Bridge tenure, while the lack of a recognised goalscorer remains a major concern.
With games against the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City all on the horizon, as well as a meeting with Brighton in the Carabao Cup tomorrow night, things could get worse before they get better.
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And Bent fears the 51-year-old could be dismissed if the situation isn’t looking any more positive by the turn of the year.
He told talkSPORT: ‘Chelsea I almost feel are stuck in this kind of phase where, are they going to be a team that rebuilds or do they need instant success now?
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‘Now, [Graham] Potter was supposed to be the one that rebuilt Chelsea but yet it was getting that bad they went, ‘No, pull the plug.’
‘I almost feel like with Pochettino, if this doesn’t get better, they can say all they want about, ‘Yeah we’ll give him time, he’s got to rebuild the squad.’
‘If Chelsea, come Christmas time, are bottom half of the table and I’m talking like halfway between bottom and top ten, they might have to make a change.’
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