Chelsea supporters chanted expletives at co-owner Behdad Egbali, with new head coach Liam Rosenior sitting next to him. Chelsea’s new manager attended the 2-1 West London derby defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Egbali joined him in the stands, while Under-21s manager Callum MacFarlane took charge in the dugout. Chelsea fans on the road tried to make their voices heard, chanting former owner Roman Abramovich’s name in the first half. However, as the match progressed, the song became increasingly hostile towards Egbali and the other leaders of the club. Around the first hour, away supporters could be heard singing: “We don’t care about Clear Lake, they don’t care about us, all we care about is Chelsea FC.”
There was also a short chorus of “Fuck Egbali” and “Fuck Egbali, we are not wanted here.”
Significantly, there were no chants directed at Rosenior, suggesting Chelsea fans support the former Strasbourg and Hull City manager. The nostalgic chants for Abramovich suggest Blues fans yearn for the days when the club actively pursued top-class managers with a proven history of winning major trophies.
Rosenior may not have been a typical Abramovich choice, but the new consortium of Bruco and Clear Lake believe in the Briton’s abilities. But the loss to one of Chelsea’s fiercest rivals, despite Rosenior not being in the dugout, did little to win over the Stamford Bridge skeptics.
Some Chelsea fans are unhappy with the Clear Lake and Bruco consortium. Discontent has been mounting since the sacking of fan-favorite manager Thomas Tuchel in the summer of 2022.
Furthermore, on the day that Rosenior was appointed as the new head coach, the Chelsea Supporters Trust (CST) called for “greater clarity, accountability and engagement” from the owners. CST also revealed that 53.7% of its members expressed “not at all confident” in the ownership group’s football-related decisions, and 36.9% expressed “not very confident”.
It also reported that 5.8% of members were neutral, and only 4.48% of members expressed “a great deal of confidence” or “a great deal of confidence.” Regarding sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart, 43.2% voted for the option to be ‘not fit for purpose’, with a further 42.69% highlighting ‘significant weaknesses’ in Chelsea’s current sporting structure.
Before the holiday season, Chelsea beat Burnley 2-0 on grass to move into second place, just three points behind league leaders Arsenal. However, they finished the night in 7th place, just four points behind 14th place Tottenham, with just one win in nine Premier League games.
If Liverpool beat Arsenal, Chelsea would be six points clear of the top four. Rosseniol faces a huge task if he is to get his new team back into the Champions League places. His first test as head coach comes this weekend when Chelsea depart to face Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup.
His first game at Stamford Bridge is set to be a potential season-defining clash against Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final first leg.
