Now what for Chelsea? Liam Rosenior's sacking leaves few good short or long-term options for owners

As Chelsea struggle to stay in the race for a Champions League spot, what's the path to winning and profitability for their owners?

James Benge

Apr 22, 2026

1:33 pm ET

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9 min read

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Liam Rosenior has found his way out of Chelsea. Now, supporters might be asking, what is their owners? Both in the immediate term and with regards the big picture question of what happens when the owners at Stamford Bridge need to generate a return on their investment, it is hard to puzzle out a sense of how this club might become what its owners have professed they want to build since taking charge in 2022.

The nature of any investment from private equity is that it will eventually cash out. When Clearlake Capital, who own just over 61% of investment vehicle BlueCo, do eventually go, what will they leave behind? A club that can generate a billion pounds in revenue as Clearlake's Clearlake's Jose E. Feliciano suggested in 2022? Not likely when they can't even secure access to the wealth of the Champions League on a regular basis. The winning project that Behdad Eghbali spoke of earlier this month? Right now Chelsea are not even a scoring project, their attack displaying all the maneuverability and guile of the Titanic careening through the seas off Newfoundland. Not since that hubristically named endeavour went down in 1912 have Chelsea gone five league games without scoring.

That is why Rosenior is now out at Stamford Bridge. As Chelsea explained in a statement that did not lack for warm towards their outgoing manager, replacing him with Under-21s head coach Calum McFarlane was what they viewed as the best avenue to salvage a season that is in danger of ending without silverware of even qualification for Europe. That the hierarchy have vowed to "undertake a process of self-reflection" before making another appointment is perhaps the best news to come out of this season.

It has gone so badly wrong that Rosenior's employers are having to offer up the Notes app screenshot of sackings. It's not you, it's us. We need a little time to think it over. We need a little space just on our own. We need a little time to find our freedom.

Funny how quick the milk turns sour, isn't it? It really wasn't that long ago that Rosenior could at least point to performances trending in the right direction even if results weren't. There is still a case to be made that this team, which had the fifth-best non-penalty expected goal difference per Premier League game during their manager's brief tenure, have been unfortunate to turn 73 shots worth 5.51 xG into zero goals. The underlying metrics of his tenure would have you believe that this is a quite good team who might achieve a lot if they just ironed out their disciplinary issues.

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Everything changed after Tuesday's 3-0 defeat to Brighton, a comprehensive blowout that seemed inevitable from the moment Rosenior lined up in a 5-4-1 with Liam Delap and Pedro Neto the only natural attackers on the field. It would be hard to make an elite attack when Estevao Willian, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro were among those sidelined, but blowing up the system at halftime to introduce Alejandro Garnacho was an acknowledgement of how badly the Chelsea boss had misjudged things.

"In the basics, in the pride that you should have in wearing the shirt, that was unacceptable," Rosenior said in his final media duties as Chelsea manager. "I've defended the players, and I am accountable. I've always said that. After tonight, I think the players as well need to have a look in the mirror for what they put in. You can talk about tactics, tactics come after the basics. Having more courage to play, winning duels, winning headers, tackles, and conceding terrible goals. That was an unacceptable performance tonight.

"Something needs to change drastically right now. I think the players need to have a look in the mirror for what they put in. You can talk about tactics... tactics come after the basics."

It is rarely a good idea for a manager to start talking about something needing to change. Even at a club as committed to churn as Chelsea, there was only one quick fix available to them in April.

One of the great skills of top managers is their ability to quell the noise when required. The defeat to Brighton was bad, Rosenior's very public dressing down of his squad only turned up the volume. That wasn't the first time that this relatively inexperienced head coach, in his third permanent job, brought the wrong kind of attention to the club. There was the curious refusal to come out and play in the second leg of an EFL Cup semifinal where Arsenal held the lead. Entrusting Filip Jorgesen with the first leg of a Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain backfired spectacularly. Away from matters on the field, there were those who questioned whether a two-game suspension for Enzo Fe