Chelsea have dismissed head coach Liam Rosenior after just 106 days in charge, with the club confirming the decision on Wednesday following a run of results that has pushed their Champions League ambitions to the brink.
Rosenior, 41, arrived at Stamford Bridge in January from Strasbourg, a fellow club within the BlueCo ownership group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract. His tenure ends with 11 wins from 23 matches across all competitions.
The final blow came on Tuesday when Chelsea lost 3-0 at Brighton, their fifth consecutive Premier League defeat without scoring. The run marks the first time since 1912 that the club has gone five straight league games without a goal. The result left them eighth in the table, seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool with five games remaining.
“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,” Chelsea said in a statement.
Rosenior had called his side’s display at Brighton “indefensible” and “unacceptable” in the aftermath, facing vocal protests from Chelsea’s travelling supporters. His comments represented a notable shift after weeks of defending his squad publicly.
Calum McFarlane, who served as Rosenior’s assistant and briefly took interim charge when Enzo Maresca was sacked in January, returns to the role for the remainder of the season. His first test comes on Sunday when Chelsea face Leeds United in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
In the league, Rosenior won five of his 13 matches and guided Chelsea through four FA Cup ties, all against lower-league sides, to reach the last four. Their remaining Premier League fixtures pit them against Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Sunderland.
Sources have told ESPN that Chelsea are not currently in active discussions with any permanent candidate, though Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola, Fulham head coach Marco Silva, and former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic have been identified as names under consideration. Iraola confirmed last week he will leave Bournemouth at the end of the season, while Silva’s contract at Fulham expires in July.
