Little-known coach Rosenior could be set for surprise chance at Chelsea

Liam Rosenior is a little-known English coach who looks certain to be thrust into a fierce spotlight as Chelsea's new manager.

If Rosenior becomes the latest coach on the Chelsea carousel to replace the departed Enzo Maresca, he will have benefited from the Blues' owners' multi-club model to earn promotion from Ligue 1's Strasbourg to the upper echelons of the Premier League.

And while he may never have coached in the Premier League, he comes with a glowing reference from former Manchester United and England great Wayne Rooney.

After a short spell in charge of Brighton's under-23s, Rosenior, 41, began his senior coaching career in 2019 at Derby County, first under Philiip Cocu and then as assistant to Rooney.

"He's taken chances, and hopefully that pays off because I think Liam is as good a coach as I've ever worked with," Rooney said on his BBC podcast.

"He was incredible in his coaching ability," added Rooney, highlighting Rosenior's attention to detail.

Rosenior briefly replaced Rooney on an interim basis in 2022 and later that year took over as manager of Hull City in the Championship.

After just over 18 months in charge, he was sacked and in July 2024 was appointed by Strasbourg, the French club who are owned by Chelsea's parent company BlueCo, 

That link appears to be the main reason the west Londoners are considering Rosenior, given his relative dearth of top-flight experience. Strasbourg are currently seventh in Ligue 1.

But according to Rooney, "he's done his apprenticeship... so he'll have no doubts in his mind that he's capable of doing that job."

He would become only the fourth English manager in the current Premier League.

In an interview with AFP last year, Rosenior spelled out his coaching philosophy.

"For me, regardless of style of play, tactics, systems, how fit your team is, I think football is played by people," he said.

"People have emotions and are complex. They have good days and bad. My job is actually to get the best out of people."

Role model dad

Rosenior, a right back in his playing days, certainly has football in his blood.

His father Leroy was a striker for Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, West Ham and Bristol City and, although born in London, he represented the Sierra Leone national team due to family links.

Liam followed in his father's footsteps, playing for both Bristol City and Fulham during a long career split mostly between the Premier League and Championship.

Leroy also went into management and Liam twice played under his dad, firstly in the Bristol City youth ranks and then in the old Third Division during a brief loan spell at Torquay United when he was 19.

"I'm grateful to my dad for giving me that chance. I learnt more in three months there than anywhere else," Liam told The Independent in 2006.

Perhaps surprisingly, though, Leroy was not a pushy parent and always let Liam choose his own path.

"Dad is the main influence in my career, not because he was always telling me what to do, but through his presence and that he had done it before," Liam told The Independent. "Kids have role models; my dad was mine."

Like his father, he represented England at under-21 level, although he never made the switch to Sierra Leone at senior level.

Incidentally, his brother Darren played amateur rugby union for Rosslyn Park.

Liam found silverware hard to come by as a player, but did score the clinching second goal for Bristol City in their Football League Trophy success in 2003.

In 2014, he was part of the Hull City team that took an early 2-0 lead over Arsenal in the FA Cup final, only to lose 3-2 after extra time.

If he is appointed soon, one of his first tasks as Chelsea manager would be trying to get the Blues past Arsenal in a two-legged League Cup semi-final, with the first leg on January 14.