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The former Tigers player and manager is the favourite to take over at Stamford Bridge

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Former Hull City head coach Liam Rosenior is currently the favourite to take over the reins at Club World Cup champions and UEFA Champions League-chasing Chelsea following Enzo Maresca's New Year's Day exit.

Such developments come less than two years after the current RC Strasbourg boss was somewhat controversially relieved of his duties at the MKM Stadium by Tigers owner, Acun Ilicali, days after he guided the East Yorkshire club to their currently highest league finish since their last relegation out of the Premier League in May 2017.

Plenty has gone on in City's world since the aforementioned decision was made, with Ilicali now overseeing his sixth permanent manager or head coach in the form of Bosnian, Sergej Jakirovic, whose management has made the club one of the Championship's surprise packages so far this season, as they are amongst a clutch of sides locked in the ever-changing play-off race despite current transfer market limitations.

It is a completely different set of circumstances to those which Rosenior found himself in between November 2022 and May 2024, initially replacing Shota Arveladze after a disastrous start to the 2022/23 season before showcasing clear progress the following campaign, although it has been debated by some that City's seventh-place finish was, rightfully, deemed a failure when assessing his squad on paper.

He has since worked wonders at the Alsace-based club, guiding them into the UEFA Conference League last term, as they currently sit top of the aforementioned competition.

Given Strasbourg's well-documented links to Chelsea through the BlueCo ownership consortium, it has been revealed that the 41-year-old is the favourite to take charge at Stamford Bridge.

Offering a Hull perspective on the matter given his connections as a player and in the dugout, Football League World's Tigers fan pundit, Cameron Gibson, believes that whilst there is a clear risk, Rosenior has very little to lose were he to be appointed.

Hull City stance offered amid Liam Rosenior, Chelsea managerial links

During an 18-month period in the MKM Stadium hotseat, Rosenior won 27 of his 78 matches in charge, before currently boasting a 52 percent win ratio at the Stade de la Meinau, winning 32 of 62 games thus far.

Throughout his time as a head coach, which began at Derby County, the Londoner has developed a reputation for strongly nurturing young talent - an attribute which would come in handy in West London as Chelsea's squad have the youngest average age in the Premier League at 23.4.

Whilst the opportunity of working with world-class players such as Cole Palmer would be a hard opportunity to turn down for any young head coach, Gibson did highlight the risk which comes through working at Stamford Bridge, with Graham Potter a recent high-profile example of a homegrown boss who couldn't live up to the billing on that front.

"He's a former player, head coach and FA Cup finalist for us. I wish him nothing but the best," he told FLW.

"I think, obviously, when he went to Strasbourg, it was obvious that he'd be linked with the Chelsea job if it became available.

"If you look at their previous managers, the likes of (Jose) Mourinho, (Andre) Villas-Boas and (Roberto) Di Matteo. They do like a young manager with new ideas," Gibson claimed.

"But, I wouldn't say Liam Rosenior's in the same category as some of the others who have managed Chelsea recently. It's the unknown, it's a risk.

"Do big clubs like Chelsea take risks? Not really," said Gibson. "They normally go with tried and tested, which Liam Rosenior is yet to be.

"I do think if he was to leave Strasbourg and go to Chelsea, he's got nothing to lose.

"We've seen managers like Graham Potter go to Chelsea, not do well and then move on to West Ham. So, there's no reason why he wouldn't give it a try, and if the worst happened after six months, he'd get another job elsewhere," our fan pundit stated.

"He's a very young coach. He's not the finished article, but, I'm hoping he does get the job.

"His style of football at Hull City was quite boring, and I'm not sure the Chelsea fans are going to want to watch boring football where the keeper stands on the ball for most of the game.

"I have watched a couple of Strasbourg games in the Conference League, and they do seem to be a good attacking side," he added.

"Maybe Chelsea view Liam Rosenior as the perfect person. He's the perfect person if you want a 'yes man'.

"I think he'd do whatever he's told and deal with what he's given, as he's not worked his way up to being Chelsea manager the normal way. If he shortcuts it by being at Strasbourg and being linked, then he's got a good chance of surprising people.

"Hull City fans, we wish him nothing but the best. But, I can't see it working for him at Chelsea if he stays that way, although he has progressed, developed and worked with a higher level of players at Strasbourg," Gibson concluded.

Potential Liam Rosenior, Chelsea appointment would be an intriguing watch for Hull City supporters

Many outsiders believed it was a clear error on Ilicali's part to dismiss Rosenior 20 months ago, particularly as the Tigers only went on to avoid relegation on goal difference last year under his successor, Tim Walter and latterly, Ruben Selles.

However, it must be noted that in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, City had lost a vast amount of their attacking impetus despite, arguably, improving the squad in the winter transfer window with additions such as Fabio Carvalho, Anass Zaroury and Ryan Giles.

It is clear that styles in Ligue 1 are vastly different to the Championship, hence why the ex-City boss has flourished with Strasbourg, whilst also benefitting from being a 'feeder club' of sorts to the two-time UEFA Champions League winners, with Rosenior able to develop players such as Andrey Santos, Mathis Amougou and Djordje Petrovic amongst others as a result.

A move to the Kings Road club would also see him reunite with Liam Delap, whose positive trajectory began with an eight-goal loan move to HU3 under Rosenior in 2023/24, eventually signing for Chelsea for £30m in May from Ipswich Town, where he has recently returned to full fitness after two injury setbacks.