Chelsea crisis costs Rosenior his job but blame belongs elsewhere

Missing out on European football altogether is a real risk that would humiliate the owners.

- By Dom Smith

Liam Rosenior watches his side slump to defeat against Brighton

The abysmal 3-0 defeat at Brighton was Groundhog Day on many levels, a continuation of Chelsea’s remarkably consistent run of wretched form.

But in Liam Rosenior something changed. “I keep defending the players,” the under-pressure head coach raged, “but I can’t come out here and lie. Professionalism wasn’t there. Some of the things I witnessed I never want to see ever again.”

Their own manager calling out their “unacceptable” and “indefensible” display was extraordinary, a damning indictment that betrayed how he'd really been feeling. If that left him “feeling numb”, his sacking yesterday, not four months into the job, is sure to have shaken him up.

Even before a terminal slump of seven defeats from their past eight games, Rosenior was much-maligned for his supposed PR-speak, for labelling his players’ every move “outstanding”. Such a severe switch-up on the south coast — the Englishman finally shifting blame to his players — always felt seismic.