Chelsea’s next appointment could make or break the Blueco project

Not many people thought Liam Rosenior would see out his six-and-a-half-year deal as Chelsea manager when he was appointed in January, but few thought he would last just three months.

Chelsea have swallowed and spat out another promising young manager . Rosenior was the fifth permanent manager the Blues have had under the ownership of the BlueCo consortium.

Thomas Tuchel was there when they took over the club but the new owners wanted to bring in their own man. Since then, though, some of the hottest prospects on the managerial market have come to London and been unable to succeed.

Graham Potter was sacked after seven months in charge, Mauricio Pochettino arguably did a good job, just missing out on a Champions League finish, and still only lasted a season, Enzo Maresca won two trophies but grew frustrated, leaving by mutual consent earlier this season.

Five permanent managers in four years of owning the club is worrying. The fact that Chelsea have only qualified for the Champions League once under this ownership is even more alarming.

It seems incredibly unlikely Chelsea will be in next season’s Champions League, given they are seven points off fifth-placed Liverpool having played a game more than their rivals.

Rosenior actually started quite well, winning six of his first seven games in all competitions. That included a 2-1 comeback win away to Napoli in the Champions League.

It seemed he may be up to the job, and although his comments in press conferences were ridiculed and he gained the nickname ‘LinkedIn Liam’, it looked as though the players were taking to him.

Videos came out of Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer doing interviews in which Rosenior popped in and had a laugh with them.

The mood was good, and the team was winning, despite a Carabao Cup exit to Arsenal. Chelsea lost 4-2 on aggregate in the semi-final, and inexplicably did not seem to go for the win they needed in the second leg.

The negative approach to the game angered many fans, and was followed by another loss to Arsenal a month later, this time in the league.

Chelsea had lost three times to Arsenal under Rosenior, and he had not even been in charge for two months.

But Rosenior’s project really went off the rails in the 5-2 defeat to PSG in the Champions League round of 16 first leg. The Blues played very well for 73 minutes, and looked as though they were leaving Paris with the game tied at 2-2 and it all to play for in the second leg.

But 16 minutes of madness at the end of the game saw Chelsea concede three times and the tie was done. A 3-0 battering in the second leg did little to help matters, and the aggregate score ended with an embarrassing 8-2 defeat.

Rosenior never recovered after that. The following game was a 3-0 loss to Everton, and Chelsea lost three of the next four. That included defeats to Manchester City, Manchester United and Brighton.

The only win in the last eight games of Rosenior’s reign was against Port Vale in the FA Cup.

Rosenior’s last game in charge, the 3-0 league defeat to Brighton, was by far Chelsea’s worst performance under his leadership.

It was one of the worst performances a Premier League side has displayed this season. Chelsea were outfought, outthought and outran.

Rosenior could have been sacked just for the performance and disastrous change of shape he attempted, but his criticism on the players after the game sealed his fate.

106 days was all he lasted. And now Chelsea are in a position where the next managerial appointment could make or break the project.

Fans are furious, and have protested twice in the last three months. Chelsea’s owners and sporting directors are being called out, and are in the spotlight for the club’s failures.

Chelsea’s next manager has to be someone who can command the respect of the players, and has top-level experience. And they need to sign experienced players in the summer transfer window. Otherwise there will no doubt be more protests to come.

Rosenior was never up for the job, but he is a symptom of the issue at Chelsea , rather than the cause.