Your shrub is pobably stressed in the container. You can almost hear it saying: ''Am I too wet, too dry, are my roots congested or do I need some feed.'' Many plants are saying this as you will notice from comments on this site. You will hear your shrub breath a sigh of relief when you replant it out in the ground.

Good advice from Jimmy...last year he advised me about a failing Clematis which certainly worked!

Thanks for the attention...should I replant now or wait until the buds might just open ?

I would do it now. I might be that the buds won't open if they are ''squidgy'' so you have nothing to lose. It looks like the soil in the pot is wet so best not to water for a while when you plant it out.

I’d be checking it for vine weevils grubs too. ASAP

What make you say that ?? Are Rhododies prone to vine weavil...but I will most certainly check. Do the grubs live in the soil or on the shrub ??

Hi…If a plant is in a pot, and you get a sudden collapse li,e this, it’s always worth checking the roots for Vine weevils grubs. They love containerised plants but also will attack sedums and Hostas in the ground. And yes, they love rhodies. When you see notches out of the leaves..
That’s the adult weevils. The white grubs feast on the roots. Absolutely horrid. There is a nematode treatment for them. It’s pricey, but it works.

WOW !! I will most certainly have a good root
(excuse the pun ) around. Thanks for the attention.