With Swansea City having only secured one victory in their previous nine Premier League games there is no real surprise that the whispers for Garry Monk to be fired have started to become louder given the cut throat nature of the game nowadays.
However, Monk has remained cool under the pressure and has stayed positive despite the speculation and today has seen two individuals in the game come out and back the former Swans defender to keep his job.
Former footballer and current pundit, Danny Mills, and current club captain, Ashley Williams, have both come to the aid of the under fire manager, giving him their backing and urging the board not to make any rash decisions.
Backing from the dressing room
With the media continuing to the increasing pressure and some fans beginning to grumble, Monk is witnessing his most difficult period of his short managerial career; it's often times like this that managers can lose their dressing rooms.
Thankfully for Swansea, it appears that is not the case as the Williams has come out and backed the manager "officially" as he believes himself and his teammates have not "done that enough".
Williams believes that Monk is "working as hard as we (the squad) are", and admits his manager is "coming in for a lot of stick" recently due to the team performances. But the skipper admits they are not just fighting to turn it around for him but also "ourselves" as the squad tries to turn their season around.
Having his captain come out and publicly support him will no doubt boost Monk's confidence as it will provide a similar mindset to the rest of his team due to his role as captain. Fans will also be pleased to hear confident words coming from inside the camp during these difficult times, but he wasn't the only one to support Monk.
It would be harsh - Mills
Football pundit Mills has revealed he thinks it would be "very harsh" for Swansea to sack Monk given what he has done for the club during his time, both as a player and a manager. He has questioned, "Who could replace him?"
Speculation has stated that chairman, Huw Jenkins, is struggling to justify being able to let him go due to the £3.5 million he would be forced to pay Monk in compensation, given that he had just signed a contract extension back in July.
Jenkins doesn't want to spend money to get rid of Monk, so it's doubtful he will want to spend big money on replacing him. It's the lack of a realistic replacement that makes Mills question the potential to fire Monk, stating it would "be a little naive".
Mills believes that Monk's ability to secure Swansea as a mid-table club should be "considered a success" as that section of the league is "very, very tight" and whilst Swansea are struggling currently, the ex-Leeds United defender doesn't think Swansea will be relegated.
However even with backing, Monk will know only too well that this is a results-based business and will be aware of the pressure he is under, should he continue to struggle for results.