Chelsea are closing in on the appointment of Liam Rosenior as their new manager.
Given he’s coming from their sister club Strasbourg, the deal won’t be hard to do. The delay is coming because they first need to make sure his replacement at the Ligue 1 club is in place.
The BlueCo ownership of Strasbourg is already highly controversial with their fans, and having their successful manager grabbed mid season is going to be a major flashpoint without doubt. It proves right the worst fears of all those fans who have said they don’t want their team owned by outsiders as part of a multi-club model.
Strasbourg narrow down candidates
According to French journalist Marc Mechenoua, the shortlist for Strasbourg is coming together. They want someone in the same mould as Rosenior – a really young coach with new ideas.
Top of the list is Filipe Coelho, who moved to Strasbourg from Chelsea in the summer, almost in preparation for this sort of shuffle. Also in contention is Calum McFarlane, the man who replaced Coelho as Chelsea’s Under-21s coach in the summer, and who will also manage the first team tomorrow against Man City.
Then there’s Eric Ramsay, the highly rated former Man U assistant now at Minnesota United, and Will Still, the former coaching phenom who did well in Ligue 1 but has seen his reputation take a hit after a spell at Southampton this season.
In other news…
Chelsea need their most experienced players to step up and help them in this tricky moment, and Pedro Neto is among them. He spoke a little about how he and his teammates can rise to the challenge.
David Datro Fofana is finally at a club where he’s playing and scoring regularly, and he decided to take the chance to apologise to Chelsea fans for not being able to show them his best in his time at the club.
