Chelsea! In Crisis?

Personally I think reports of Chelsea decline are coming a bit early?

Admittedly they've not been great, at times they haven't even been good, obviously the stats don't lie. In the first ten games of the Premier League season they scored 27 goals, since then it reads: Seven games, four goals. No one associated with Chelsea is happy with numbers like that but I don't agree it warrants the word 'crisis'.

Chelsea's problem is that their most successful period has been over the last decade which makes it at the forefront, in the mind of a fan. A 20 year old supporter won't remember a time when they weren't challenging for the league, trophies will be all they know. They have won 14 trophies covering top-flight Championships, League and FA Cup, and of those nine have been since the year 2000. That's 64 %.

But all this counts for nothing as in football you are only as successful as your last result and right now that is a one all draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur. So rumours continue about Carlo Ancelotti leaving the club in the summer or before. The boss made it clear it wasn't his decision to sack Ray Wilkins and you have to wonder how much control the Italian has over his staff and it's affairs. He has looked increasingly unhappy in the dugout with his new assistant Michael Emenalo at his side, a man who was promoted from the position of chief opposition scout.

Unlike previous managers such as Avram Grant it is clear Ancelotti is in charge in the changing room with players regularly coming out in support of the manager, but will this be enough to keep him at Stamford Bridge? As the media continues to speculate over the clubs form will this increase doubts in the owners mind about whether he has the right man in charge? Roman Abramovich is a man known to make important decisions on his opinion alone but maybe now would be the time for him to look for the thoughts of those outside of the boardroom.

It is clear the fans have a lot of love for the man in the hot seat and in a league where managers are sacked for wearing the wrong colour tie it might be nice to see someone of Abramovich's stature being a little patient and removing his finger from the trigger. The longest serving managers are at the Premier League's most successful clubs. I'm sure even Mr Abramovich knows this isn't just a coincidence.