Liam Rosenior's position as Chelsea manager is under severe threat following a humiliating defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion, with former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood predicting the sack and naming Andoni Iraola as the ideal successor.
Rosenior's record run
Chelsea have now lost five consecutive Premier League matches without scoring a single goal, a feat not seen in the top flight since November 1912, over 113 years ago. The Blues have collected just five points from their last nine fixtures, with only Tottenham Hotspur (two points) faring worse in that period. After the Brighton loss, Chelsea could drop as low as 14th in the table before their next league game against Nottingham Forest, with an FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United intervening.
Sherwood's scathing assessment
Speaking on Sky Sports, Sherwood did not hold back in his criticism. 'They were outplayed in every way, in style, build-up, in possession, out of possession, it was a team playing a bunch of individuals, no spirit, no character,' he said. 'They were watching at the end there going over to the Chelsea fans - half of them had left the stadium 20 minutes ago. It's not only your ability, it's your desire to wear the shirt.'
Sherwood added: 'It was embarrassing, the room that Brighton had. Liam Rosenior changed it at half-time, but he has to recognise that sooner. Three goals is the least Brighton deserved. I don't like saying it, there are demonstrations and flags out against BlueCo, Liam Rosenior will not survive this, he will not, unfortunately for him. It's a real tough job for any manager to survive this environment. Chelsea is a development club.'
Iraola tipped as perfect fit
Sherwood believes Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola, who will be available at the end of the season, is the man to turn Chelsea around. 'I'll tell you one man who would do it at Chelsea, that's Andoni Iraola,' Sherwood told Boyle Sports. 'If Iraola was up for grabs at the end of the season, if they want to make a change and they want an elite manager who's willing to do whatever they want him to do, because he's done that at Bournemouth.'
Sherwood highlighted Iraola's resilience: 'We're talking about a man who lost a whole back five last year, but they never went to two-bob clubs; they went to Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool and then this season, their best player goes to Man City in January. The man just gets on with it, keeps his mouth shut. "That's the job, I know the job, I will just concentrate on developing it." And now they've got a lot of others who are capable. [Marcus] Tavernier has been outstanding, [Eli] Junior Kroupi. They will produce.'
He concluded: 'But the man knows, if they don't change the goalposts on him halfway through, if they say, "This is the job, this is what we want you to do," he'll just get on with it, like he has, he's not murmured, he's just got on with the job. He's an elite manager and a top-drawer manager. He'll be a perfect fit for them, but there'll be a queue round the block for his services.'
