Tim Sherwood believes Liam Rosenior 'won't survive this' following Chelsea's catastrophic 3-0 defeat to Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday night.
Ferdi Kadioglu, Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck all struck for the Seagulls as the Blues crashed to a fifth defeat in a row.
It means that, with just four Premier League games to go, Rosenior's men face the prospect of a season without European football.
They've now slipped to seventh in the standings, with Brighton ahead of them in sixth, while Brentford, Bournemouth and Everton could all soon be above them.
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Rosenior was only appointed as Chelsea manager back in January following the Blues' decision to cut ties with Enzo Maresca.
However, Sherwood thinks the 41-year-old is unlikely to keep his job with the mood around the club souring with each passing week.
"They were outplayed in every way. In style, build-p, in possession, out of possession," he said on Sky Sports.
"It was a team playing a bunch of individuals. No spirit, no character. They were watching at the end there going over to the Chelsea fans - half of them had left the stadium 20 minutes ago.
Liam Rosenior cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as Brighton crushed Chelsea | PA"It's not only your ability, it's your desire to wear the shirt.
"It was embarrassing the room that Brighton had. Liam Rosenior changed it at half-time but he has to recognise that sooner.
"Hinshelwood is an academy player who plays in every single position. Full-back, outstanding. Midfield, outstanding. He was No 10 tonight.
"Three goals is the least Brighton deserved.
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Five facts about the Premier League | PA/GETTY/REUTERS/GBNEWS"I don't like saying it: there are demonstrations and flags out against BlueCo. Liam Rosenior will not survive this. He will not, unfortunately for him.
"It's a real tough job for any manager to survive this environment. Chelsea is a development club."
Other pundits were equally scathing.
Former Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell admitted that fan anger was likely to rise in volume, insisting that players haven't been doing enough to turn the tide.
"Those Chelsea fans will not accept that performance at all," he stated.
"When your backs are up against the wall, you only get out of that by putting a shift in, hard working and doing the hard yards.
"You can talk analysis, tactics, data until you are blue in the face, but you need to go out there and put the work in and that is the only way for this Chelsea team to get out of this.
"Yes they have had injuries and some big players missing tonight, but you have to take that on the chin and the people who have come into the fold have to step up and not one of those Chelsea players have done that this evening.
Brighton were superior in every department as they battered Chelsea
|PA
"It was far too easy for Brighton tonight and just not good enough from Chelsea."
And Gary Cahill, who won eight major trophies during his own time at Stamford Bridge, thinks it's a fixture that carries no positives.
"I said before it was a huge game and one they needed to win and they just got totally outplayed, there are no positives you can take from that game," he said.
"I feel somewhat for Liam, I feel the players let him down, but there are some unpleasant stats out there about Chelsea and they are some tough times ahead.
"And Sunday's FA Cup semi-final is now pivotal for this club, but they look fragile, low on confidence, fragile and in all honesty, it was a difficult watch to be fair.
"The last 20 minutes, they almost accepted their fate, second to every ball and they were just miles off it tonight."