Chelsea’s start to the Premier League season, which has seen the west London club lose two of its last three home matches in the league and drop four of the last seven overall in league play, is the worst start for a defending champion in memory.

Manager Jose Mourinho’s 7-minute rant to Sky Sports after Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Southampton was an entertaining disconnect from reality. While many will point to personnel problems with the squad, this is a team that essentially ran away with the Premier League title last season. The biggest player problems have been Branislav Ivanovic, who has lost a step playing right back, and Cesc Fabregas, who I firmly believe has been one of the worst players in the entire Premier League that regularly starts games this season. But both of these players have proven in the recent past the quality they possess and might regain it.

Of note, Jose Mourinho’s man management and behavior publicly seems to be the greatest concern for the club. The Eva Carneiro saga began a series of events where Mourinho appears to have lost the faith of his players, all of whom surely had a good relationship with the former Blues team doctor. My feeling is that while it is fair to look at individual performances and mistakes by Chelsea players, my thinking is that much of the Blues collapse is psychological and can be fairly-easily corrected with another manager or a change of attitude.

Mourinho should be sacked despite winning the league title last season. His public behavior, which has humiliated Chelsea Football Club and the brand they have attempted to build globally, is ultimately as damaging as the constant losses. The two feed each other in a vicious cycle that shows no sign of letting up. Should he stay in the job, with the mental damage done to a fragile squad, Chelsea likely finishes outside the top 4. But if he were to be sacked soon, they have a real shot of getting back into the mix for the top 4 or perhaps even a league title. We are only eight games into a 38 match season – teams have erased deficits of eight to twelve points previously to win Premier League titles much later in the season. Currently, the Blues are only ten points behind table-topping Manchester City.

Chelsea can get back into the mix for the top 4 and perhaps even the league title with another manager.

SEE MORE: When did Jose Mourinho stop being special?

Here’s why:

1. Table-topping Manchester City has already shown ability to ship goals and drop points in the league. In fact, the Blues loss to West Ham at the Etihad last month demonstrated that in this topsy-turvy new era of spending in the Premier League, anybody can take points of the favored sides at any ground.

2. Second-placed Arsenal is wildly inconsistent and has already shown an ability to lose at home in the league (West Ham) and to be intimidated by Chelsea. Arsenal are the only team this season in the league not to score at least two goals against Chelsea. While proponents of the Gunners will point to the reduction of the side to ten men before halftime of that game, Arsenal did little to threaten the Blues up to that point.

3. Manchester United, as evidenced Sunday in the 3-0 loss at Arsenal, are still a work in progress

4. Presumed fourth-placed Spurs look quite good now. But Mauricio Pochettino has put his faith in young players, largely home-grown who have no history of surviving a long Premier League season. Spurs could contend for the title or finish outside the top four. Right now, with so many unknown variables in the side, it is possible they won’t finish 4th.

5. Liverpool is in a similar crisis state to Chelsea, having just sacked manager Brendan Rodgers. The Reds have a hodgepodge of players that may or may not fit well together under the new manager, whoever it is.

But ultimately, the Mourinho sideshow — if it is allowed to continue much longer — will doom Chelsea chances of salvaging something from this league season. Perhaps the Blues seek to emphasize Europe where, despite the 2-1 loss to Porto last week, the team looks poised to advance to the knock-out stages. That would be a heck of a gamble to keep Mourinho in place just based on his strong European pedigree and record. Chelsea have a choice: Sack Mourinho by the November international break and bring in a player’s manager that can get quick results and maybe even simply a short-term basis, salvaging the league campaign. Or retain Mourinho, continue the weekly sideshow and focus on cup competitions.

This choice is completely in the hands of owner Roman Abramovich. Either make the move or suffer the penalty within the league.