Chelsea have sacked Liam Rosenior after just three months in the job following an awful run of form that has seen the Blues lose five Premier League games on the spin without scoring and left their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League in tatters.
A pathetic 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Tuesday, after which Rosenior tore into his players for their “indefensible” performance proved to be the final straw and the hierarchy have ripped up his six-year contract in a move that reports suggest will cost the Blues £24m.
Rosenior was only appointed in January and was viewed as a long-term successor to Enzo Maresca, following the Italian’s sudden departure, but now Chelsea must once again begin the hunt for a new manager, with no one specific currently lined up. Calum McFarlane will take interim charge until the end of the season, with his first game coming this Sunday against Leeds in the FA Cup semi-final.
Former Blues players Filipe Luis, who recently left Flamengo, and Como boss Cesc Fabregas are among the names being linked, with outgoing Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner, ex-Barcelona manager Xavi and soon to be out of contract Fulham head honcho Marco Silva also high up in the betting.
Chelsea are languishing in seventh in the Premier League, seven points behind Liverpool in fifth, who also have a game in hand.
Follow all the fallout from Rosenior’s sacking with our live blog below:
Liam Rosenior sacked by Chelsea three months into six-year contract
Rosenior’s record at Chelsea (all competitions)
Win percentage: 47.8 per cent
Goals scored: 47 (none in the last five games, a record worst run in 114 years)
Goals conceded: 38
Gary Neville: ‘The owners haven’t got a clue’
Neville says: “This policy at Chelsea, I don’t really see it. These six-year, eight-year agreements that you see, it’s laughable from the start, whether it be for a manager or a player. The owners haven’t got a clue what they’re doing.”
Neville adds Rosenior “should get on with his life tomorrow”.
“Pretend the last 107 days never happened, go and get another job at a club you can trust, and leave the mess that exists at Chelsea behind.
“They’re all over the place. I just don’t get it really. You deserve what you get in football. It’s a reflection on them, not the coach. You don’t turn down a job like that, but he just needs to put it behind him as quickly as you possibly can.
“The fans will be disgusted by the way that this is gone. The way in which it’s happened, it’s just not right. It’s a reflection upon you [the owners] when you get it wrong.”
Gary Neville tears into Chelsea owners after announcement of Liam Rosenior sacking
Gary Neville continues: “The coach always takes the hit, they know they’re the ones who get sacked. It’s easier to move a coach out than it is to move 25 players, owners are never going to sack ourselves, and sporting directors aren’t likely to either.
“The owners are getting it really badly wrong there, let’s be clear. I said at the time, they’ve got a group of talented players, you’ve got an ownership that’s relatively young two or three years in, and you need some experience somewhere in the club.
“The results have not been good enough, but come on. [Marc] Cucurella and [Enzo] Fernandez stitching him up in the last few weeks and saying they love Maresca,” said Neville, referring to comments made by the experienced duo.”
Gary Neville tears into Chelsea owners after announcement of Liam Rosenior sacking
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has criticised Chelsea’s owners and players after the club announced the dismissal of manager Liam Rosenior after just three months in charge.
“I am not shocked that Liam is leaving the club. I am shocked he is leaving today, I thought at the end of the season it probably would happen,” said Neville on Sky Sports.
“I don’t think it is a reflection on Liam [Rosenior] at all. He will be disappointed with that [losing games]. I think it is time for the owners, sporting directors and players to reflect on their role in terms of what’s happened in the last few weeks.”
Mario Melchiot: Chelsea ‘must have a plan in place’
Mario Melchiot said of Rosenior’s sacking: “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.
Chelsea’s remaining fixtures
April 26: FA Cup semi-final v Leeds
May 4: Nottingham Forest (H) – Premier League
May 9: Liverpool (A) – Premier League
May 17: Tottenham (H) – Premier League
April 25: Sunderland (A) – Premier League
Why Chelsea had to sack Liam Rosenior and the true scale of the mess left behind
Sources say some comments surrounded Liam Rosenoir’s decision not to wear his glasses at the training ground. One or two even joked about whether it was to look tougher.
This fed into a huge reason why the 41-year-old has now gone, and why Chelsea now face up to an FA Cup semi-final with Calum McFarlane again a stand-in. Rosenior never had full authority over that dressing room, in a development that was all too predictable. A promising young coach just wasn’t ready for this job, at this time, as anyone could have told the hierarchy.
Challenges facing Calum McFarlane
While there are four more matches left of the Premier League season as McFarlane looks to secure some form of European football at Stamford Bridge, his first test is an FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United at Wembley this weekend.
The match marks a chance to keep Chelsea’s hunt for silverware this season alive, with the winner facing either Manchester City or Southampton in the final on 16 May.
While the hopes of Champions League football returning to Stamford Bridge hang by a thread after the loss to Brighton – with the Blues seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand – it is likely that McFarlane will name as strong a starting XI as possible against Leeds.
Who is Calum McFarlane?
Calum McFarlane previously held the interim manager role in January after Chelsea sacked Enzo Maresca, coaching the team against Manchester City and against Fulham in the Premier League.
After securing a draw against Pep Guardiola’s side, the Fulham game ended in a 2-1 defeat.
McFarlane joined Chelsea last summer from Southampton, where he spent two years overseeing their Under-21s and previously their Under-18s.
His extensive coaching career includes a three-year stint at Manchester City, working with their Under-15, Under-16, and Under-18 teams, between 2020 to 2023.
Prior to that, he spent three years at Tromso in Norway and held youth coaching roles at Fulham and Crystal Palace. He also served as assistant manager for non-league sides Croydon and Whyteleafe.
