Chelsea have sacked head coach Liam Rosenior following the club’s damaging 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Tuesday.
Chelsea have lost five consecutive league games without scoring a goal for the first time since 1912 and the club’s bosses have decided to make their second coaching change this season.
After a run of five straight Premier League defeats in which Chelsea have failed to score a single goal, the club’s decision makers have called time on Rosenior’s reign.
“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. “Everyone at Chelsea FC wishes Liam every success in the future.”
Chelsea added that Calum McFarlane, previously head coach of the club’s under-21 team, will take charge of the first team as interim head coach until the end of the season.
Rosenior joined the club in January — replacing Enzo Maresca — from Chelsea’s partner club Strasbourg and signed a 5½-year deal.
There has been growing unrest at and around Chelsea in recent months with fans protesting against owners BlueCo who also own Strasbourg as part of their multi-club ownership model.
Fans of the French club were scathing in their criticism of Rosenior’s switch from Strasbourg to Chelsea, labelling it “another humiliating step in Racing’s subservience to Chelsea.”
In March, Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali gave his backing to Rosenior and said at the time he still believed the manager could be successful.
However, his tenure has been brought to a premature end after he turned on the Chelsea players after their defeat to Brighton, calling their performance “indefensible.”
After winning the Europa Conference League last season and lifting the Club World Cup last summer, Chelsea, who are facing an uphill battle to qualify for European football next season, were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain by an aggregate score of 8-2 and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by rivals Arsenal.
