Twelve months is an awful long time. Just ask Stuart Pearce.

Within a year of taking charge of Manchester City on a permanent basis, his name was being touted about as a possible replacement for Sven-Goran Eriksson as England head coach. This summer Pearce is expected to lead England's Under-21s at the European Championships in Holland, but whether or not he is still employed at City remains to be seen, with some speculating his tenure could be over within a matter of days.

Pearce stood on the touchline motionless on Sunday as he realised the full scale of the malaise in which the club finds itself. Although still six points clear of the relegation zone, it’s the performances that have led a good many neutrals to plump for City as the third team most likely to go down at the end of the season - even before last week’s home defeat to Wigan. The biggest reason for this is the desperate shortage of goals, an ingredient any side scrapping for points at the tail end of the season cannot afford to lack.

Supporters genuinely fear that Manchester United's visit to the City of Manchester Stadium could be the game that sends Pearce's men down to the Championship, whilst their bitter rivals clinch the Premiership title. A new manager in place could provide the necessary boost before the run-in enters that critical phase, otherwise, assuming Pearce doesn’t face the chop before tomorrow, there simply has to be a reaction on the pitch against Chelsea this Wednesday.

The odds are massively stacked against Pearce seeing March out, given that so much rests on a game against Jose Mourinho’s title chasers - even though three points would temporarily move City out of danger ahead of next weekend's trip to Middlesbrough.

Against a Blackburn side reduced to 10 men in the second half while leading only 1-0, Pearce and his assistant Steve Wigley pondered long and hard before bringing on Samaras and Mpenza to join the three strikers already assembled including fit-again Darius Vassell. Yet there was no more movement up front  and consequently nothing to threaten the home side’s advantage. How could City not manage to get a single shot on target?

Richard Dunne’s comments earlier in the day ignited the mood among the majority of the 7,000 travelling supporters at Ewood Park, and if the club captain thought it was a show of solidarity to his under-fire manager, then someone ought to have an honest word in his ear.

He said: “The players we’ve signed are coming in and taking a young player’s position, when that youngster needs to see what it takes to be in the first team. People are in the comfort zone and you shouldn't feel comfortable, but certain people do. It doesn’t just take having a transfer fee or a big name.

“The young players at this club are well respected and some of them are internationals who’ve got there through hard work. It’s them who are setting the standards, which is the wrong way around.”

Player morale is still high, insists Pearce. However, lately there hasn’t been much going on where it matters to back up his claim. Typically, Pearce accepted Dunne’s actions and the supporters' response, including one fan having to be restrained by a steward in front of the visitors' dugout. It will always remain Psycho’s belief that anyone associated with a football club is entitled to vent their frustrations, however potentially destructive. But after a day of such vitriol a seemingly clearer picture of the manager's future has taken shape, and it doesn't look pretty.

“It’s up to me to lift the players and I’ll go into training on Monday with a smile on my face,'' he said. ''It’s disappointing to hear those chants from the fans but it's not unjustified. You do get stick if you don't win enough games, especially as a manager. It all boils down to hard work. We must not feel sorry for ourselves.”

Can City survive in the Premiership, and can Stuart Pearce keep his job?  We want to hear from you at  Sportingo.