The Premier League's managerial merry-go-round could pick up speed during the January transfer window after Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham all slipped further into trouble with their latest defeats.
Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti has said his team's defense of the Premier League title is just about over after Wednesday's 1-0 loss at last-place Wolverhampton Wanderers, while British newspapers reported that Roy Hodgson could be out at Liverpool after just six months following a ninth defeat in 20 matches.
In a league where huge financial rewards heap pressure on managers to find instant solutions, Liverpool's 3-1 loss at Blackburn left the 18-time champions four points above a relegation zone containing Villa and West Ham.
Villa ruled out a second coaching change of the season despite a 1-0 loss to visiting Sunderland that left Gerard Houllier's side fighting relegation - just seven months after a second straight sixth-place finish - but Hodgson and West Ham manager Avram Grant have received no such public backing lately.
Grant's position looks increasingly fragile after Wednesday's 5-0 loss at Newcastle dumped the Hammers back into last place.
Chelsea's expectations are totally different, but the pressure is the same.
Club owner Roman Abramovich hired Ancelotti from AC Milan to restore the domestic success the team enjoyed under Jose Mourinho and to win the Champions League title the Russian billionaire is widely reported to crave.
But after a stellar debut season in which Chelsea won the Premier League and FA Cup, an aging squad and injuries seem to be catching up with Ancelotti - just as they did at Milan.
Even recent success is no guarantee of continued employment.
''It's not my decision,'' Ancelotti said. ''I hope I can continue this job, because I would like to stay here and I have a good relationship with the players and with the club.''
The most likely outcome is that Ancelotti will survive what was arguably Chelsea's most embarrassing defeat in the 18-year history of the Premier League, not least because of the lack of an obvious successor.
Mourinho is in his first season with Real Madrid and unlikely to return to a club he left acrimoniously in 2007, while Guus Hiddink is contracted to Turkey's national side.
Frank Rijkaard's reputation was established at Barcelona but tarnished by an unsuccessful spell with Galatasaray, although not enough to stop him being linked with ailing Liverpool.
The five-time European champions have lost to Northampton, Blackpool, Stoke, Newcastle, Wolves and now Blackburn.
Although Liverpool's most recent league title came 21 years ago, fans used to regular cup success and a top-four finish have been chanting against Hodgson for months.
''Unfortunately, when you're Liverpool and you lose away to Blackburn there is nothing that can be said which will put a positive slant or make the situation look any brighter,'' Hodgson said. ''There's not much more I can say other than to say to the fans that anything they're feeling tonight, I can assure them the feeling is equally as bad and equally as depressed in the dressing room.''
Hodgson, the manager of the year for taking Fulham to the Europa League final last season, will be looking for a new job if Liverpool's American owners give supporters what they want.
