Chelsea: Behdad Eghbali issues shock Enzo Maresca sack verdict amid Liam Rosenior prediction | OneFootball

The Italian’s departure violated a club policy, it transpires

Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali has thrown his support behind Liam Rosenior despite revealing the club did not want to sack Enzo Maresca.

Rosenior took over as head coach in January after Maresca’s shock departure by mutual consent on New Year’s Day, and has endured a turbulent first three months in the job.

After winning seven of his first nine matches in the job, the Blues are now on a run of five defeats in their last six and are in serious danger of failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Maresca, meanwhile, was steadily growing in popularity with fans after leading the club to Conference League and Club World Cup honours last season, leaving many to question the credibility of Chelsea’s long-term project after his dismissal.

And Eghbali, a co-owner of BlueCo’s majority shareholder, Clearlake Capital, has now revealed Maresca’s departure contradicted a club policy.

“Our policy has been no in-season [head coach] changes," he said, speaking at the CAA's World Congress of Sports conference in Los Angeles.

“You certainly review and hold not only the manager, but the management team, the sporting team, accountable, but typically in the summers, not in season.

Rosenior joined Chelsea from sister club Strasbourg, signing a long-term deal, and Eghbali backed him to pull the club out of its tailspin, with the FA Cup still presenting a possibility of silverware this season.

“On Liam [Rosenior], we had the opportunity to work with him daily for 18 plus months, so we knew what we were getting," he continued.

“We think he has every attribute to be successful here. He got off to a great start. We've had a tough past five, six matches, but I think we're behind Liam. Of course, it's a results business, but we think he can be successful long term.

"We still have six matches in the Premier League, and an FA Cup semi-final coming up. So, hopefully the story of this season hasn't been written yet, and you've got a lot to fight for. In my perspective, when you get punched in the face, you've got to fight back, you've got to stand up and fight. And it's going to hopefully show a lot about the character of this squad.

"I think the perspective is stability, and frankly, getting that stability on the manager side is one of the things we haven't done right yet, and it's something we're striving to improve on."