LONDON, Jan 6 : Chelsea’s appointment of young Englishman Liam Rosenior as head coach will be an inspiration to those hoping to follow his path, according to Calum McFarlane, the man who will hand over the reigns after Wednesday’s trip to Fulham.
Chelsea’s Under-21 coach stepped in after Enzo Maresca parted ways with the club on New Year’s Day and masterminded a 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Sunday.
McFarlane has been given responsibility for the Premier League game at Fulham, when Rosenior will watch from the stands before assuming his duties on Thursday.
The 41-year-old Rosenior is untested as a coach in England’s top flight, having had a spell as interim manager at Derby County and then as head coach at Hull City, both in the Championship, before taking over at Racing Strasbourg.
A seventh-placed finish in Ligue 1 last season enhanced Rosenior’s reputation and McFarlane believes after Fulham the Londoner is ready to put his stamp on a expensively-assembled Chelsea squad, while flying the flag for home-grown coaches.
“I really enjoy watching his sides. They have aggressive, front-footed football and I am really excited about the work he is going to do at this club,” McFarlane told reporters.
“I’m sure all young English coaches from an academy background will be, in some way, rooting for Liam. It is really inspirational for young academy coaches to see that and we hope he does really well.”
Rosenior served in a similar role to McFarlane at Brighton and Hove Albion after ending his playing career, aged 34.
At Strasbourg he put his faith in youth with the French club’s starting line-up amongst the youngest in Europe and there is a strong focus on young players at Chelsea with the average age of Maresca’s starting line-ups this season being 23.
McFarlane, who will return to his day job coaching in the academy at the Chelsea’s Cobham Training Centre, expects to have a close working relationship with Rosenior.
“I am sure it will be a really good connection. Cobham is part of this club and part of the history of this club. It is something the club is proud of. It is in the DNA,” he said.
“I know it is something the sporting directors are proud of and it is part of our job to make Liam’s job difficult in terms of bringing more players into the first team.”
Asked if he had any advice for the incoming head coach, McFarlane said they had only had a brief chat.
“I spoke to Liam really briefly last night and he is excited about taking the role,” McFarlane said.
“I wouldn’t be giving him any advice because he is a really accomplished coach. I am here to support him but I won’t be giving him any advice.”
Rosenior will be the second-youngest coach currently in charge of a Premier League club after Brighton and Hove Albion’s 32-year-old Fabian Hurzeler.
