Stephen Elliott has said that Phil Parkinson's job could be at threat if Sunderland fail to beat Blackpool this weekend.
It's been a torrid start to life at the Stadium Of Light for the former Bolton Wanderers boss who has found victories hard to come by since making the move.
As a result, the Black Cats find themselves in 11th place with 26 points from 18 games - five points from the play-offs and 10 from their original target of the automatic promotion spots.
Pressure has been building on Parkinson, and according to the former striker, his future could be decided as early as this weekend.
Speaking on the Sunderland Echo podcast, Elliott said: “He hasn’t been in charge for very long but he’s had a lot of games in that short period of time band we’ve not seen anything in the team to suggest that he’s the guy to get the job done, to get the club competing at the top end of the table.
“It’s harsh but football is a results-based business and if he doesn’t get a result against Blackpool, you’d be seriously looking at it as the owner, do you do something now or wait until January to give him the funds to do something.
“At the moment, he hasn’t looked up to the job.
“When Jack Ross went, a lot of people were saying it was probably the right thing to part ways with Jack and me included, he probably had run his course a little but.
“But that was provided the club had a plan in place and that the replacement was going to make the team better.
“If anything, over the last 11, 12 games, it’s been a lot worse. It’s been really poor to watch."
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The verdict
Phil Parkinson deserves time to make his mark with Sunderland.
While results have been far from ideal at the Stadium Of Light, the former Bolton boss has had limited time to make his mark on a squad of players which he inherited when he took over.
Realistically, Parkinson should only be judged at the end of the season, and while things aren't looking good at the moment, things could easily turn around in the second half of the season.