English Premier League side Chelsea has cut ties with head coach Liam Rosenior just three and a half months into his tenure, ending his appointment after a devastating run of results that marks the club’s worst form in more than a century. The 41-year-old was dismissed on Wednesday, just 24 hours after his team suffered a lopsided 3-0 away defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion – a result Rosenior himself publicly condemned as unacceptable.
Rosenior took over the Stamford Bridge helm in January, stepping into the role after the club parted ways with former manager Enzo Maresca. He was poached from French Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, a club tied to Chelsea’s U.S.-based ownership group BlueCo. What began with promising early momentum quickly unraveled: in the club’s last eight matches across all competitions, Rosenior’s side picked up seven losses, including five consecutive Premier League defeats where the team failed to find the back of the net. The club’s current five-match goalless losing run in top-flight English football is its first since 1912, a staggering low for the historic London club.
In an official statement confirming the split, Chelsea noted the decision was not made lightly, but argued recent on-pitch performances and results fell well short of the standards required with high-stakes fixtures still remaining in the 2024/25 campaign. Calum McFarlane, one of Rosenior’s former assistant coaches, will step into the role of interim manager for the remainder of the season. His first test in charge will be a high-profile FA Cup semi-final clash against Leeds United this coming Sunday.
With just four matches left in the current Premier League season, Chelsea currently sit in seventh place in the table, seven points behind the top four positions that qualify for the next season’s UEFA Champions League. McFarlane’s immediate priority will be to salvage at least a spot in one of European football’s secondary competitions, a result that would ease significant financial pressure on the club. Last season, Chelsea posted a record pre-tax loss of £262.4 million ($349.3 million), one of the largest annual losses in English football history.
The dismissal of Rosenior marks a significant milestone for BlueCo, the American ownership consortium fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly that bought the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022. In less than five full seasons of control, the group has now sacked five permanent managers, a level of turnover that has drawn widespread criticism from fans and pundits alike. Club officials say they will now launch a thorough review process before making a long-term permanent appointment ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Already, a shortlist of potential candidates has emerged in media reports: out-going AFC Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, Fulham boss Marco Silva, and former Borussia Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic are all rumoured to be in contention for the role. The high turnover comes despite major investment from the ownership group: since taking over, BlueCo has spent more than £1 billion ($1.35 billion) on new player transfers. While the club lifted the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League trophies last season, the massive spending has failed to deliver consistent Premier League success.
Turbulence off the pitch has plagued the club long before Rosenior’s dismissal. The January sacking of his predecessor Maresca, who was widely popular among the first-team squad, was publicly questioned by senior Chelsea players including Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella. Fernandez was dropped from the matchday squad for two matches after he publicly admitted he would be open to a summer transfer to Real Madrid, and was forced to issue a public apology to the club to be reinstated.
Cracks between Rosenior and the squad had been visible for weeks, following humiliating early exits from cup competitions: the club was knocked out of the League Cup by Arsenal, and suffered an 8-2 aggregate thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League round of 16. After the Brighton defeat, Rosenior made his frustration plain in post-match comments, saying he could not defend the abysmal performance. “I have defended the players at times when it was the correct thing but I can’t defend that performance. It doesn’t represent this football club, it doesn’t represent anything I ask from the group and that has to change,” he said, adding, “I feel numb I’m so angry.”
BlueCo’s transfer policy, which focuses on signing large numbers of young talents from across the globe, has drawn consistent protest from Chelsea fans. While the strategy has produced standout success in cases like England international Cole Palmer, the club is now facing the prospect of star names including Palmer potentially leaving at the end of the season. For the second time in three years, Chelsea is on track to miss out on Champions League qualification, adding further uncertainty to the club’s future as it searches for a sixth permanent manager under its current ownership.