London, Sep 30 (IANS): Former England defender Graeme le Saux has claimed that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is in danger of being axed from his position if the reigning English Premier League (EPL) champions continue with their current poor form.
Chelsea are currently in 14th place on the EPL points table with just two wins in seven matches. They trail league leaders Manchester United by eight points.
They are struggling in Europe as well with a 1-2 loss to FC Porto on Tuesday night putting their chances of advancing from the Champions League's Group G under a cloud and le Saux reckons that Chelsea are on the worst run Mourinho has ever suffered in his managerial career.
"You only have to look at Chelsea's history to see how quickly they change managers when they're not happy with something… so watch this space.
"They're only eight points behind (league leaders Man United), so they're still in there, but they could be out of sight had Man City continued with the form they showed at the start of the season," the former Chelsea left-back was quoted as saying by the Daily Star on Wednesday.
"They're in the worst form a Jose Mourinho team has even been in, whether that's at Chelsea or any other club he's managed," he added. "There are absolutely genuine causes for concern. They've had the worst start to a season I can remember, it's been terrible."
The 46-year-old, who had two spells with Chelsea from 1989-1993 and 1997-2003, also asserted that the London club need to rediscover the from that saw them win the EPL title last season.
"When you think about Mourinho's ethic and philosophy, it's all about being defensively watertight," he said. "But Chelsea have been so exposed as a team and as individuals as well at times this season."
"In the first-half against Newcastle on Saturday, Newcastle cut through them really easily and thoroughly deserved to be ahead.
"It was only because of Newcastle's nervousness, because they've had such a poor start to the season, and a fantastic strike from Ramires that Chelsea got back into the game. I don't think they would have against a more confident team," he added.
"Individually they're struggling, too. (Cesc) Fabregas is playing so below par, but it's not just him, I think all of them are playing way below the standard they set themselves last season."