Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich sent Frank Lampard sack message after Aston Villa draw (Image: GETTY)
The club legend, Chelsea's all-time top goalscorer, spent nearly £250million in the summer transfer window in the hope of bridging the gap to Liverpool and Manchester City at the summit of the table.
But their current rut has undermined the progress made by the Londoners, who had looked as though they had established themselves as major title contenders in recent weeks.
Yet Amazon Prime pundit Townsend, who spent three years as a player at Chelsea between 1990 and 1993 and made over 100 appearances, insists the Blues are not in any real mess.