Chelsea sacked manager Liam Rosenior on Wednesday after a catastrophic run of form that has left the London club’s Champions League hopes hanging by a thread while they also endured their worst goalscoring drought in over a century.
Rosenior lasted less than four months in the role after his January appointment following Enzo Maresca’s departure, becoming the latest casualty of Chelsea’s turbulent season after seven defeats in their last eight matches across all competitions.
Rosenior’s dismissal came a day after a humiliating 3-0 loss at Brighton & Hove Albion, which saw the south coast club leapfrog Chelsea into sixth place in the table.
Chelsea are now seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
“Chelsea Football Club has today parted company with head coach Liam Rosenior,” the club said in a statement.
“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, we would like to place on record our gratitude to Liam and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the club.
“This has not been a decision the club has taken lightly, however recent results and performances have fallen below the necessary standards with still so much more to play for this season.”
The club said Calum McFarlane would take charge of the team as interim head coach until the end of the season.
An encouraging start to Rosenior’s reign after he replaced Maresca in January descended into one of the worst sequences of results in the club’s history.
They have now lost five Premier League games in a row without scoring a goal — the worst run since 1912 — and their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are fading fast.
“I have defended the players at times when it was the correct thing, but I can’t defend that performance,” Rosenior said after Chelsea were completely outplayed and failed to have an attempt on target against Brighton.
“It doesn’t represent this football club.
“It doesn’t represent anything I ask from the group, and that has to change.
“I feel numb. I’m so angry. Something needs to change drastically right now,” he said in the media briefing after the loss on Tuesday.
Rosenior was something of a surprise choice when he arrived at Stamford Bridge from Strasbourg in January, having signed a contract until 2032, but when he won his first four Premier League games, sceptical fans appeared to have been won over.
That optimism faded fast with Chelsea sitting seventh and sliding into a congested mid-table — not what co-owner Behdad Eghbali, who was at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday, would have envisaged.
Defender Trevoh Chalobah appeared to disagree with Rosenior’s claims after the Brighton debacle, saying the players had run “their socks off”.
The suggestion is that there was a disconnect between the manager and the players, and that kind of situation hardly ever ends well.
Chelsea are back in action this weekend with an FA Cup semifinal against Daniel Farke’s Leeds United at the Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday (5pm). — Reuters
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