Liam Rosenior had a solid playing career; he represented the likes of Fulham, Hull City, Reading, and Brighton in the Premier League. However, not many would have expected that he would be in the frame for managing Chelsea.
He started his managerial career as the assistant of Brighton's U21s. From there, he went to Derby County initially as a number two. However, he also had a spell as caretaker manager. Hull was his next job. However, he was sacked after his side missed out on the Championship playoffs.
Strasbourg was his next job, which was his first club outside of England, either as a player or coach. He replaced Patrick Vieira at the club. They finished seventh in their first season, which is the place that they currently occupy.
The Blues have taken chances on managers unproven at the highest level recently. Graham Potter was a disaster before Frank Lampard returned to the club on a caretaker basis. Enzo Maresca did have great success, winning the Club World Cup and the Europa Conference League.
Maresca also secured Champions League qualification last season, but as ever with Chelsea, there is a constant revolving door of managers.
Would Liam Rosenior be a good fit for Chelsea?
Rosenior is an obvious candidate as his club, Strasbourg, is also owned by Todd Boehly's BlueCo consortium. Therefore, it should be fairly straightforward to move him between the sister clubs.
The manager has also fueled speculation with recent comments. He was quoted by Fabrizio Romano: "In life, there is zero guarantee. We don't know what will be done tomorrow. I do my job. I don't want to guarantee how long I'll be here but I enjoy it here every day."
Strasbourg has a game tomorrow against Nice, whilst Chelsea plays Manchester City on Sunday. Therefore, Rosenior being appointed the manager at Stamford Bridge will likely happen after the weekend.
Chelsea's U21 manager, Calum McFarlane, will take charge of the Blues against City. Other managers linked with replacing Maresca include Andoni Iraola, Kieran McKenna, Francesco Farioli, Roberto De Zerbi, Cesc Fabregas, and Oliver Glasner.
All of these managers are unproven at the highest level. Chelsea's new model for players is to buy young talent and develop them. However, they do not give the same opportunity to their coaches. Managers with experience at a lower level are brought in, but are not given the time to prove themselves.