Word on the curb is that Usher is in talks to have mother Jonetta Patton return as his manager. That loud thump you hear is the sound of Tameka’s balls hitting the floor.

Last year, just days before Mother’s Day, Usher stunned friends by telling the woman who turned him into an R&B superstar that her services were no longer needed. Shortly afterward, we revealed that he was replacing her with Benny Medina, the man who has steered the careers of Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez, among others.

But now that Usher’s new album has been slow off the mark, he’s blaming Medina, say sources. True, the CD, “Here I Stand,” debuted at number one. But Usher is said to have been disappointed that it sold 433,000 in its first week, compared with his last CD, 2004’s “Confessions,” which had sales of 1.1 million in its first seven days.

Medina, who’s an expert at holding artists’ hands, reassured Usher that his latest sales were nothing to be ashamed of, considering the current climate of the record business. But then, three weeks later, Lil Wayne’s album, “Tha Carter III,” sold more than one million copies its first week out.

“Usher was livid!,” claims an insider. “He threatened to fire everyone.” Also troubling were the ratings for the BET Awards. While the show pulled 6.3 million viewers when Beyonce opened it last year, the Usher-headlined show drew only 5.8 million.

“People have been telling Usher to listen to his mother,” says a source. “Nobody knows how to sell him better than she does. Usher can be stubborn. But he may be ready.”