Chelsea fans are expressing concern over the possible appointment of Liam Rosenior as their new manager, after discovering past comments he made about transfer strategies.

Rosenior has emerged as the frontrunner to lead Chelsea following the unexpected exit of Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day.

In light of this development, Chelsea supporters have been investigating Rosenior’s career trajectory. His journey in coaching has seen him transition from assistant roles at Derby County to head coaching positions at Hull City and Strasbourg.

In a 2018 Sky Sports debate, footage surfaced of Rosenior, then a pundit and youth team coach at Brighton, criticizing Fulham’s transfer strategy. He described their approach as “scattergun” during the summer transfer window.

That year, Fulham became the first team to spend over £100 million after being promoted to the Premier League, acquiring 13 new players. Despite the heavy investment, they struggled throughout the season and were relegated back to the Championship.

Chelsea fans have expressed concern over Liam Rosenior’s previous comments about ‘scattergun’ approaches to transfer windows

Rosenior spoke about ‘scattergun’ transfers in a 2018 appearance on Sky Sports

Rosenior had been asked in November 2018 whether Fulham’s manager Slavisa Jokanovic would have had a say in the club’s recruitment, leading to him delivering a critical analysis of their transfer policy.

‘I don’t think so, I don’t think so in the way that recruitment works at Fulham,’ Rosenior said.

‘I think there needs to be more of a synergy at every football club in terms of your recruitment. That is another problem.

‘I mean, they signed two goalkeepers on deadline day. For me that does not make any sense. 

‘That does not make any sense when you have a goalkeeper like Bettinelli who has done very well in getting promoted to the Premier League.

‘To me it seems of a scattergun approach, let’s get as many players in as possible, lets spend money and look great in the transfer window.

‘Football is about having quality players, but it is also about having team spirit as when you go to the likes of Huddersfield you have to dig in and fight to get three points.’

Chelsea fans have reacted to the clip with concern, after drawing comparisons to the club’s own approach to recruitment.

Fans drew comparisons between Rosenior’s comments in 2018 to Chelsea’s vast squad turnover under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s ownership of the club

Since the BlueCo consortium – led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital – took charge of Chelsea in May 2022, the club have signed over 50 players.

‘The way this guy has talked about recruitment in the past. How on earth is he contemplating joining THIS CHELSEA,’ one fan wrote.

‘So we know his thoughts on Clearlake’s model before he’s started the job,’ another stated.

‘Oh boy, he’s about to learn a harsh lesson at Chelsea,’ a third wrote.

Other fans expressed fears of a ‘disaster’ and an ‘incoming car crash’, with one suggesting Rosenior would ‘not make it to the end of the season’ if appointed.

Despite the comments, Rosenior has been part of the BlueCo set-up since July 2024 when he took charge of Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg.

The former full back led the club to a seventh place finish in Ligue 1 last season, which saw the club qualify for the Conference League.

Speaking in October, Rosenior stressed that he feels trusted by BlueCo having signed a new deal at Strasbourg.

Strasbourg boss Rosenior, who is favourite for the Chelsea job, claimed in an interview last year that a high turnover of players is now normal at every football club

He also reflected on the high player turnover at the French club under the BlueCo ownership.

‘It is not just multi-club ownership clubs that have high turnover, I was at Hull and in January we had a turnover of I think 15 players out and 13 players in,’ Rosenior told the Athletic.

‘It is football now, it is normal the turnover of players at every football club is huge.

‘Where I am fortunate, I can be selective in the players I want to stay and we can be selective in the players where we feel it is time to move on.

‘I am part of that decision making, but I am not the only decision maker but I am part of that process.

‘In the last transfer window we identified people within our squad we felt could move things forward and educated the new players coming in.   

‘If you identify those people – people will still look at the numbers – but the culture will stay the same as you keep really important people. Everyone plays their part.’ 

Strasbourg are currently seventh in Ligue 1, but have won just one of their past six league matches despite a strong start to the season.