Chelsea interim head coach Calum MacFarlane says he is devastated that Liam Rosenior didn’t succeed at the club as he prepares to take charge for the second time this season.
MacFarlane has been tasked with managing the team until the end of the campaign after Rosenior was sacked from his post this week following Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton.
The 40-year-old briefly took the reigns after Enzo Maresca was sacked in January, guiding the side to a 1-1 draw with Manchester City before Rosenior was hired. The academy coach was then promoted to first-team assistant.
MacFarlane’s first game in charge since returning to the role will be against Leeds United on Sunday, with a place in the FA Cup final on the line.
Chelsea caretaker ‘gutted’ about Liam Rosenior sacking
Asked in his pre-match press conference if he spoken to Rosenior since his departure, he replied: “Yeah I spoke to him. I am not sure how he has done that [spoken to the players] or how that has been done.
“I’ve spoken to him on the phone on Wednesday. He was good, it was a good conversation. I have a lot of respect for Liam, I didn’t know him before he came to the club, he welcomed me in brilliantly. I have a great relationship with him and I am gutted it didn’t work out.”
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Chelsea have lost each of their last five Premier League games without scoring a goal, their worst run since 1912, and are now in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification.
MacFarlane refused to speak about why things went so wrong under Rosenior in recent weeks.
He said: “It’s not my place to say what has gone wrong or right. We’ve got a massive, massive game on Sunday. All I am thinking about is Leeds as a team, what are their strengths. What are our strengths and weaknesses and how we are going to prepare for that game.”
He added: “I didn’t say I don’t know what they are, I said I don’t want to discuss them today. All our focus is to improve the team’s performance for Leeds.”
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