Graham Potter certainly deserved the Chelsea job when he was handed the reins in September. He had been successful everywhere he had been until that point, and was the kind of progressive coach that felt the right hire to replace Thomas Tuchel.
But as we approach the six-month anniversary of his appointment at Stamford Bridge, it's fair to now ask whether he will actually reach that milestone.
Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Tottenham means the Blues have won just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions, and are all but out of the top-four race after slipping 14 points behind Spurs.
Even qualifying for the lesser European competitions now looks a tall order, and Todd Boehly and the rest of the Blues board now have a decision to make on what is the best route forward for the club - let Potter see out the season and see if improvements are made, or sack him now in a bid to salvage something from a campaign that is almost totally lost.
It's not an easy call to make, but it was clear in north London that the Blues are a team going nowhere fast as Potter fights to find the right combination of expensively-assembled players to get positive results.
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