Chelsea hero Gianfranco Zola's reign at Birmingham City hit a new low on Saturday as they lost 4-1 at home against Queens Park Rangers.

It has not been an ideal time at St Andrew's for the former Premier League great, who has only managed to pick up six points since taking over from Gary Rowett at the end of 2016. He has only won one game.

Sportsmail has put together a guide to what has been going wrong for Zola since he took charge of the Midlands club.

Gianfranco Zola has had a difficult time since deciding to take over as manager at Birmingham

The Blues were put to the sword on Saturday, losing 4-1 against Queens Park Rangers

What was the situation before Gianfranco Zola arrived?

Birmingham were doing relatively well for a club that has generally been in chaos for the last few seasons. Rowett had managed to steady the ship after arriving with the club in 21st.

They finished 10th last campaign and were eighth in the Championship, just a point outside the play-off places, when the shocking call to get rid of the former Burton Albion boss came from the club's board.

Former manager Gary Rowett had managed to lead Birmingham to eighth in the second tier

Why was Gary Rowett sacked?

Rowett's exceptional achievement with Birmingham meant he was chased by a number of more stable clubs. With Fulham calling in December 2015, the Blues managed to convince him to stay.

But the new contract he had been handed did not sit well with acting chief executive Panos Pavlakis. Birmingham were then taken over by Hong Kong based Trillion Trophy Asia.

It has been reported that Rowett was pursued by big names again this season and Birmingham tried to secure his future again by extending his contract. The manager decided against doing so at that point.

That was seen as disrespectful by Trillion, who instead chose to dismiss him.

Rowett was sacked after a series of behind the scenes disagreements with owners Trillion

What has been going wrong for Zola?

A lack of results? It cannot be more simple than that. Rowett had managed to meld a team together. Zola has not.

It must be disruptive for any player to see that success leads to further instability, so it would have been tough for Zola no matter what.

His record as a manager is not great anyway over spells in charge of West Ham, Watford and Cagliari. It might simply be the case that Rowett is better in the role than the diminutive Italian.

The fans also did not particularly want him in the first place, and that outlook has worsened as results have continued to be poor.

Zola has managed to win just one game since taking charge of Birmingham in December

The Blues manager has seen his side slide from eighth to 14th in the Championship

What changes has he made?

Zola had the opportunity to bring in a number of players in January, including Emilio Nsue, Cheick Keita and Kerim Frei.

Of the additions, only Nsue has scored a goal and Frei only made the bench for the loss to Birmingham, Zola's ninth defeat in 14 games in charge.

Zola was allowed to make a number of signings in January, including Emilio Nsue (right)

What does the future hold for Zola and Birmingham City?

It's hard to tell. There were jeers from some segments of the crowd at St Andrew's on Saturday.

And Zola himself has admitted that he will have to hold talks with Birmingham's owners: 'I obviously need to have a chat with the owners of the club. As I've said before I really care about this club and I want to help this club.

'The club trusts me and I'm willing to try to do the best I can for everyone.'

It could end up being a short stay in Birmingham for the 50-year-old.