The Observer has added to speculation surrounding the future of Morrisons chief executive Bob Stott.
The chain has come under increasing fire in recent weeks and its latest profit warning - the fifth in a year - has piled yet more pressure on the company and its board.
The UK Sunday newspaper said today that headhunters have been appointed to look for a replacement for Stott, in response to "a growing shareholder revolt" over the company's handling of the £3bn acquisition of Safeway.
Morrisons veteran Stott, 62, is due to retire in 2007, but according to the newspaper's City sources, he could leave earlier if a suitable replacement is found.
No comment has emanataed from inside the Bradford-based supermarket chain, but shareholders and investors are beginning to come forward in numbers with negative comment. One institutional investor is quoted as saying: "The appointment of a new operational head is essential given the extent of the problems they are having integrating Safeway."
And Morgan Stanley said on Friday: "The early appointment of a new, costkiller ceo could be a very positive catalyst."
For the first time too, rumours of a takeover of Morrisons are starting to appear in the press. Perenial prospective consortium leader Allan Leighton is again said to be in the frame, with backing from Selfridges owner Galen Weston.
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