Next in the firing line
Enzo Maresca’s swift exit has left Chelsea managerless for the trip to Manchester City this weekend, and even before we figure out who will be the next man in the firing line charge, we need to figure out who takes over in the interim until then.
While unconfirmed right now, it looks like the person in charge this weekend will be Calum McFarlane, who’s currently our U21 head coach. McFarlane joined Chelsea in the summer, coming over from Southampton, where he had managed the U18s and then the U21s for the past couple years. Prior to that, he was coaching in Manchester City’s academy. McFarlane succeeded Filipe Coelho at Cobham, who had gone to RC Strasbourg to join Liam Rosenior’s staff at our BlueCo sister club (more on Rosenior later). Chelsea U21 are currently fourth in the U21 Premier League.
McFarlane taking interim charge would seem to indicate the at least some of Enzo Maresca’s staff, such as assistants Willy Caballero (who had to cover for Maresca on Tuesday, post-match) and Danny Walker, may have also left alongside him — though as of right now, Chelsea’s official site still lists all of his former staff as employees of the club. (Many players posting farewells and thank-yous to Maresca have also included his staff in their messages, for what that may be worth.)
Beyond this weekend, right now it’s unclear if Chelsea will be replacing Maresca with a permanent or an interim appointee. Surely it’s McFarlane only for the moment. While the Maresca situation had been devolving for the past few weeks and months, his actual departure has still come as a surprise. He reportedly gave up any significant severance to speed up his own exit.
The leading candidate to next sit up front in this rollercoaster and get all the bugs in his teeth is said to be the aforementioned Rosenior, but obviously he’s currently a bit busy with RC Strasbourg. While some believe that BlueCo would not be averse to blowing up their season, too — and they may not be wrong — L’Equipe reports, citing internal RCSA sources, that Rosenior leaving right now is “not on the agenda”. So Rosenior perhaps may be viewed as a candidate for the summer.
Until then … well … who knows. Robbie Di Matteo ain’t busy … or Thomas Tuchel ain’t got nothing to do for the next six months, right? Champions League trophy guaranteed either way!
Category: General Sports
