Did you know that in 16 of the last 23 calendar years, Chelsea have changed managers? Well, the Blues continued that trend nice and early in 2026, sacking Enzo Maresca on New Year's Day.
Under caretaker manager Calum McFarlane, Chelsea secured a memorable point at the Etihad on Sunday, thanks to Enzo Fernández's stoppage-time equaliser against Manchester City. 40-year-old McFarlane will remain in charge for Wednesday night's West London derby with Fulham at Craven Cottage. After that, though, Liam Rosenior will officially take charge of the team for the first time, overseeing Saturday night's FA Cup tie against Charlton Athletic at the Valley.
Irrespective of whether it has been Roman Abramovich or Todd Boehly who owns Chelsea, their mantra of swiftly hiring and firing managers appears to remain in act, a fact supported by some astonishing facts.
Chelsea's changing manager trend
As noted by a football finance expert Kieran Maguire, only five managers in Premier League history have ever been sacked after winning two trophies during the previous campaign. They are documented below:
Managers | Year sacked | Trophies won |
|---|---|---|
José Mourinho | 2007 | FA Cup & EFL Cup |
Carlo Ancelotti | 2010 | Premier League & FA Cup |
Roberto Di Matteo | 2012 | Champions League & FA Cup |
José Mourinho | 2015 | Premier League & EFL Cup |
Enzo Maresca | 2026 | Conference League & Club World Cup |
Have you spotted what the four men have in common? Yes, of course, they are all Chelsea managers! Maresca's dismissal also means the Blues have now sacked their boss as reigning champions of England, Europe and the world, which really is living up to their stereotype.
Maresca did hoist both the Conference League and Club World Cup trophies in 2025. Now, while neither is the most prestigious competition in world football, the Italian is, by some distance, the most successful head coach of the Clearlake Capital-era. In fairness, their previous hires of Graham Potter, Frank Lampard on an interim basis and Mauricio Pochettino did set a rather low bar.
Rosenior will hope to avoid a similar fate. The 41-year-old had previously managed Derby and Hull, before 18 months in charge of BlueCo's other club, Strasbourg. He won 31 of 63 matches in charge of Les Bleu et Blanc, leading them into a UEFA group stage for the first time in two decades, finishing top of the Conference League standings unbeaten.
Featuring in his now former squad, eight players, namely Ben Chilwell, Diego Moreira Jr, Emmanuel Emegha, Kendry Páez, Mathis Amougou, Julio Enciso, Mamadou Sarr and Mike Penders are all either on loan from Chelsea, are formerly of Chelsea or have agreed to join Chelsea in the future.
Now in charge of the current Chelsea squad, Rosenior has certainly been thrown in at the deep end in West London. Saturday's visit to the Valley will be the first of ten matches he will oversee in the space of 31 days.
This includes a two-legged EFL Cup semi-final against Arsenal, five Premier League fixtures and a daunting Champions League trip to Antonio Conte's Napoli. Rosenior has been handed a six and a half year deal, which is pretty optimistic.
The last Chelsea boss to remain in situ for six or more years was Dave Sexton between 1967 and 1974, winning the FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup, and even he was sacked. So, even if Rosenior does get his hands on a trophy or perhaps multiple, there isn't much job security in the Stamford Bridge hot seat.