After showing Enzo Maresca the exit door less than six months after he had guided the Blues to Club World Cup glory in the United States, it looks like Chelsea have already found their next manager. Of course, questions are already being raised about whether any coach can survive for long under this structure, where the sporting directors seem to be the be-all and end-all, while the managers have little say.
Chelsea also seem to be going the easiest route possible in this managerial search. They are set to bring in someone who is already working under their structure, but at a different club.
Liam Rosenior had emerged as the favourite for the job immediately after Maresca was sacked. Even then, many Chelsea fans had hoped that it was a case of the media trying to put two and two together and not genuine interest on the part of the club.
On paper, Rosenior does not have the credentials to manage a top club like Chelsea. In the past, he has been at Hull City, and is currently the manager of a mid-table Strasbourg team in Ligue 1. But the structure has always seemed more important to this ownership than bringing in proven winners. So, it should not exactly come as a surprise to anybody.
Manager finally agrees offer to become next Chelsea boss
As reported by TEAMtalk, Rosenior has informed Chelsea that he is ready to take charge at Stamford Bridge. In fact, when he signed his new deal in April, it was made clear to him that BlueCo saw him as a long-term option to succeed Maresca.
Of course, nobody could have foreseen how quickly Maresca would leave the club after that. That once again brings us to the same question, though. Will any manager want to work in this structure on a long-term basis?
Maresca was drawing interest from the likes of Manchester City and Juventus. So, he shouldn't have a tough time finding his next club, and will probably do very well if given the right tools, something that Chelsea rarely provided him with.
On the other hand, if Rosenior does well at Chelsea, which is what all of us are hoping for, there will be interest in him as well. What then? Is this a never-ending cycle of the Blues sacking and appointing managers without making any substantial progress? When they did that under Roman Abramovich, there was success to back up the strategy. The only thing the club have done under the Clearlake-Boehly ownership is take backward steps while spending, arguably wasting, record sums of money.