A second former player has come out claiming they don’t even ‘recognise’ Liam Rosenior from the team-mate they once knew before he entered the world of management.
Rosenior’s position has come under intense scrutiny after a dismal run in control of Chelsea, with the club suffering five league defeats on the spin while failing to attain a single goal for the primary time in 108 years.
Brighton leapfrogged Chelsea into sixth place with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the Blues on Tuesday night – and calls for Rosenior to be sacked were heard within the away end on the Amex Stadium because the second half wore on.
The most recent setback leaves Chelsea with a mountain to climb on this season’s battle for Champions League qualification given fifth-placed Liverpool now hold a seven-point lead over Rosenior’s men within the table.
The reigning English champions have won their last two matches against Fulham and bitter rivals Everton, and likewise get pleasure from a game in hand over Chelsea.
‘It was unacceptable in every aspect of the sport, unacceptable in our attitude,’ an irate Rosenior told reporters after Chelsea’s capitulation on the south coast.
‘I keep coming out and defending the players – that’s indefensible, that performance tonight.
‘The style of the goals we conceded, the quantity of duels that we lost, the shortage of intensity within the team. Something needs to vary drastically without delay.
‘I feel the players need to take a look within the mirror for what they put in. You possibly can speak about tactics… tactics come after the fundamentals.
‘Having more courage to play, winning duels, winning headers, tackles, conceding terrible goals. That was an unacceptable performance tonight.’
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Questions have been asked of Rosenior’s tactical approach ever because the 41-year-old departed Strasbourg to take over the reins from Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge back in January.
But there has also been some skepticism in regards to the way within the which Rosenior communicates and presents himself within the media, together with his style often drawing unflattering comparisons to The Office’s David Brent.
Last month, Kevin Kilbane – who played alongside Rosenior at Hull City – joked that it was as if ex-team-mate had ‘swallowed a psychologist’s manual’ when he entered management.
‘You see the way in which he’s now, to me, he’s unrecognisable to the player and the person I knew,’ Kilbane said on the Off The Ball podcast.
‘It’s like he’s swallowed a psychologist’s manual or a sporting mentor’s memoir.
‘Every little thing he says to me is waffle, drivel, nothing.
‘It’s like he tries to write down as many quotes down as possible and tries to get them right into a pre-match talk or post-match each time addressing the media.’
One other of Rosenior’s former comrades, Sean Davis, echoed Kilbane’s remarks while featuring as a guest on the Under The Cosh YouTube channel.
‘I don’t even recognise him, I don’t know who that guy is! He talks like he’s swallowed a dictionary of long words,’ Davis, who shared a dressing room with Rosenior at Fulham, said of the Chelsea head coach.
‘Listen, good luck to him. At the tip of the day, quite a lot of people might criticise but he’s done the hard yards in coaching.’
Should Liam Rosenior be sacked?
Despite not recognising the person he once played with, Davis hopes to see Rosenior turn his fortunes around, especially given the underrepresentation of black managers within the English game.
‘It’s going to be tough for him, especially being a black coach as well,’ he added.
‘It is hard getting jobs because I do know quite a lot of black guys, ex-players, that type of go, “It’s too hard”, not going to get a probability. Even Ashley Cole, have a look at him. He’s needed to go to Italy to get a job.
‘So I respect him [Rosenior] and the actual fact he’s done the hard yards but a number of the words and a number of the stuff he’s coming out with, it’s a bit bollocks.’
Davis continued: ‘I truthfully think people just overcomplicate football simply to get a job nowadays.
‘Football’s not rocket science, it’s not hard, nevertheless it’s totally different game now from what it was.’
Rosenior has the right opportunity to hit back at his doubters on Sunday afternoon when Chelsea lock horns with Leeds at Wembley for a spot on this 12 months’s FA Cup final.
The Blues then have a week-long break before switching their focus back to Premier League matters against Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
A pair of heavyweight contests against Liverpool and relegation-threatened Tottenham follow that, with Sunderland playing host to Rosenior’s men on the ultimate day of the campaign.
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