Rosenior salutes stellar start to Chelsea reign

LIAM Rosenior hailed “outstanding” Chelsea's “strong start” to his reign as the new Blues boss savoured a 5-1 rout of Charlton in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

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Taking charge of Chelsea for the first time following his arrival from Strasbourg, Rosenior watched as goals from Jorrel Hato, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez gave him the perfect introduction to his new club.

The 41-year-old has replaced Enzo Maresca, who parted ways with the club last week after a turbulent campaign marred by reports of rifts with the club's hierarchy.

Some critics have questioned whether Rosenior will be a puppet for Chelsea's powerbrokers because Strasbourg are in the same ownership group as the Premier League club.

Rosenior, sacked by second-tier Hull in 2024, has much to prove but swatting aside Charlton, who are 19th in the Championship, at The Valley at least ensured there would be no giant-killing embarrassment in his first game.

"A good start, professional. I thought our first goal came at an important time in the game, it was a brilliant goal for Jorrel. The quality of my players was outstanding. Strong start, something to build on," he said.