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Liam Rosenior has been fired as Chelsea manager after a desperate Premier League run of five losses without scoring a goal.
Chelsea confirmed his departure on Wednesday, less than four months into the job and just four days before it plays in an FA Cup semifinal at Wembley.
Assistant Calum McFarlane will take charge on an interim basis until the end of the season.
“This has not been a decision the club has taken lightly, however recent results and performances have fallen below the necessary standards with still so much more to play for this season,” Chelsea said in a statement.
The team that won the Club World Cup last year now looks likely to miss out on next season’s Champions League. That would mean a huge financial hit for a club that has spent billions of dollars under U.S. owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly.
The five-game losing streak is its worst since 1912 — the same year the Titanic sank.
Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton proved the last straw for Rosenior, an inexperienced coach at the highest level who was hired from Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg in January. It was the club’s seventh loss in eight games in all competitions.
Chelsea has won one of its last nine in the league, is seventh in the standings and seven points adrift of the top five, who all qualify for the Champions League.
Rosenior, 41, turned on his players following the Brighton match, saying the performance was “indefensible” and that “something needs to change drastically.”
The club’s hierarchy clearly agreed, despite saying Rosenior had “always conducted himself with the highest integrity and professionalism.”
Rosenior replaced Club World Cup-winning coach Enzo Maresca in January and only took charge of 23 games.
He started impressively with a run of six wins in seven games, but things unraveled quickly in recent weeks, including elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.
His tenure was brought to an end despite Chelsea preparing for its FA Cup semifinal against Leeds on Sunday.
Rosenior becomes the fifth permanent manager to lose his job since Clearlake and Boehly bought one of English soccer’s most storied clubs in 2022. Now the search is on for a sixth to try to bring sustained success.
“As the club works to bring stability to the head coach position, we will undertake a process of self-reflection to make the right long-term appointment,” Chelsea said.
Rosenior’s departure comes after fans of the two-time Champions League winner and six-time English champion began to protest against the U.S. owners.
While there have been trophies, the Club World Cup and Europa Conference League last season, this could be the third campaign out of four in which it has failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Under former owner Roman Abramovich, Chelsea was one of the most dominant teams in Europe, winning a full set of trophies, including two Champions Leagues and five Premier League titles.
It last won the Champions League in 2021, the year before Abramovich was forced to sell the club after being sanctioned by the British government in the wake of Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
