Hapless Chelsea owners have built a monument to chaos and decline
Chelsea 's decision to sack Liam Rosenior after only 106 days in charge is the latest example of the monument to dysfunction and chaos owners BlueCo have built at Stamford Bridge. Rosenior was supposedly a symbol of the multi-club model BlueCo has created, effectively promoted from within as he moved from Strasbourg to Chelsea in January to succeed the sacked Enzo Maresca. This flawed strategy, led by co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly, resulted in Chelsea appointing a promising 41-year-old manager, inevitably out of his depth at this unwieldy football beast.
It was a move akin to asking a learner to take his driving test at the wheel of a Ferrari. More experienced managers than relative rookie Rosenior have struggled to survive the mayhem and unique pressures that life at Chelsea inflicts. He has time to come again, but this experience will leave scars.
Rosenior actually deserves of a measure of sympathy after what has been a harrowing few months before being put out of his misery. The end result is another BlueCo-created crisis that has resulted in a revolving door of managers, a toxic relationship between the owners and Chelsea 's fanbase, as well as the biggest pre-tax losses in Premier League history, announced as £262m at the start of April. When the group took control of Chelsea in a £4.
25bn deal in succession to Roman Abramovich in May 2022, Chelsea had just finished third in the Premier League under current England head coach Thomas Tuchel and had not been outside the top five in seven years. They had won the Champions League one year previously. Now, they face a fight to secure any kind of European football next season, with the heavy financial hit that would bring.
In sacking Rosenior, Chelsea 's statement said: "We will undertake a process of self-reflection" - those fans who have taken to the streets in protest will suggest it is not before time. Rosenior's final act as Chelsea manager was to launch a fierce public attack on Chelsea's players after Tuesday's 3-0 loss at Brighton , which made it five defeats without a league goal for the first time since 1912. The obvious connection with the sinking of the Titanic was made - and every shred of evidence suggests Chelsea , under BlueCo, are holed below the waterline.