Former players and pundits have reacted with a mix of surprise and sympathy after Chelsea announced that the club had “parted ways” with manager Liam Rosenior after just three months in charge.
Rosenior leaves after a historic run of bad form that saw the Blues lose five league games in a row without scoring for the first time since 1912, with a Chelsea statement explaining that “recent results and performances have fallen below the necessary standards with still so much more to play for this season”.
First team coach Calum McFarlane will now take charge of the club as interim head coach until the end of the season, with the 40-year-old returning after briefly taking charge of the first team in early January ahead of Rosenior starting.
Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was among the first to react as he appeared on Sky Sports News, with the Dutchman saying he was “shocked”.
“I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. I know he was under pressure, Chelsea is a big club and they expect to win. I would’ve thought that they’d have given him more time. They’ve got lots of injuries, the game against Man Utd they were a little bit unlucky,” said Hasselbaink.
“I am a little bit surprised, but then on the other hand I’m not. It’s football, it’s results, the shirt is heavy. The supporters are used to seeing the team compete week in, week out, and yesterday’s game was poor. I thought he would get at least the Leeds game, but they have to do what they have to do,” he explained.
“I think the owners and people above, they’ll be disappointed, they never thought they’d have that much turnaround in this position. What the statement says, is refreshing, they’ll reflect on that, and see how they can improve that.
“Every club doing well, has that position stabilised, that’s what they need to go back to, what’s the identity of the club, in the structure, what that is, maybe they need to treat that structure. It needs to be sorted, it cannot keep going [on],” he added.
Hasselbaink’s compatriot Mario Melchiot said that he wanted Rosenior to be a success, but “at the end of the day the club needs to play Champions League next season”.
“That’s why they had to make the change. I understand that the journey wasn’t as long as he planned, but he couldn’t move things around. I heard him say he can’t keep defending my players, and that made a difference for me. Of course you’re going to look at the players, but you also have to look at who brought him in. How did they bring him in? For me, everything went a little bit too quick.
“If you want to be a big club, if you are one, you’re going to have managers with strong egos. You have to make a choice. You know where my trust will come from? If they take the time. They must have a plan in place to make sure they can get the club out of the situation they’re in. I want to make sure it’s a manager who can handle the club and the team,” added the former Blues defender.
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith was also among those to react on Sky, with the 63-year-old saying that he was “not overly surprised” after the former Chelsea boss “criticised his players and team” after the loss to Brighton.
“That’s the last word in a manager’s tenure, there seems a disconnect between the players and the manager. I thought it was a job too soon. Top class players, World Cup winners, you really need to have something about you. It’s easy to lose them,” he explained.
“Liam thinks about his tactics, really closely, maybe sometimes he overthinks. Early on he got some good results. They hit the slump and there’s no sign of them getting out of it.
“Enzo came out, Cucurella said stuff, the fans were shouting for him to get out, it’s then very difficult. Everything seemed stacked against him. He’s the figure in front of the camera, he represents the ownership, he’s unfortunate, but he knew the deal when he came in. He knew the score. He would’ve realised it wasn’t going well. Hopefully he’ll bounce back and repair his confidence,” Smith added.
The statement on Rosenior’s sacking added that the club “will undertake a process of self-reflection to make the right long-term appointment”, with early names linked to the job including former players Felipe Luis and Cesc Fabregas as well as Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner and former Barcelona manager Xavi.
