Things are going from bad to worse for Leicester. No win in 12 with five defeats on the bounce. They will be bottom for Christmas and need one hell of a turnaround to survive.

Nigel Pearson has done an excellent job for Leicester in his two spells but with little Premier League experience, one option could be to replace him with a better suited man.

This might be harsh but we’ve seen before when Southampton sacked Nigel Adkins and replaced him with Mauricio Pochettino, even though they were above the relegation zone, that sometimes sentiment has no place in football.

Here are four out-of-work men that could potentially replace him...

Alan Curbishley

Alan Curbishley

Fifty-seven-year-old Alan Curbishley hasn’t had a managerial role since 2008 when he was manager at West Ham. Before that he spent around 15 years at Charlton Athletic, turning them from a mid-table Division One team to a mid-table Premier League team.

The job he performed was fantastic for the club the size of Charlton and exceeded expectations year after year. He also did extremely well to keep up West Ham in 2007 after coming in mid-way through the season. The job was even harder than at Leicester, with seven wins in his last nine saving the Hammers from certain relegation.

Curbishley has a lot of knowledge and years of experience at this level, and despite six years without a managerial job he still would be an excellent choice for Leicester.

Tim Sherwood

Tim Sherwood

Former Blackburn Premiership winning captain Tim Sherwood is another name that has been linked with all sorts of jobs since leaving Spurs at the end of last season.

He might not have much experience as a manager but has shown he has excellent coaching abilities and did well at Tottenham under the circumstances. He was only given half the season at Spurs and a more than respectable sixth place finish wasn’t enough for him to keep his job.

A young manager with plenty of talent, he wouldn’t be a bad option to replace Pearson and attempt to keep Leicester up for another season.

Claudio Ranieri

Greece v Northern Ireland - UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifying Group F

The 63-year-old Italian has had an extremely accomplished managerial career to date. Over the years he has managed Italian giants Roma, Juventus and Inter Milan.

Chelsea fans will remember him from his time at Stamford Bridge between 2000 and 2004 before being harshly sacked, despite leading Chelsea to second in the Premier League League and a Champions League semi-final. It could be said that Ranieri has been one of the unluckiest managers around, being sacked straight after finishing second at Chelsea, Juventus, Roma and Monaco.

He also only lasted four matches at Greece before being sacked last month. Despite all this, he has proven that he is a top manager, managing some of the biggest teams in Europe and being successful aswell. Ranieri would be a great choice for Leicester and it would take someone of his experience and knowhow to save them this season.

Tony Pulis

Tony-Pulis

Arguably the best option would be former Stoke and Crystal Palace boss, Tony Pulis. The 56-year-old Welshman performed wonders at Palace last season, guiding them from relegation favourites to 11th in the space of six months. He was also named manager of the year before leaving the club in August.

In his second spell at Stoke he led them to the Premier League and five successful years in the top flight, performing fantastically well. This also included an FA Cup final, where they were defeated by Man City, and took the club to the knock-out round of the Europa League.

With the quality of management skills that Pulis possesses, if Pearson was to be let go of then the Welshman would be the number one man to takeover at the King Power Stadium.