Rosenior vows to make fast start as Chelsea boss

Liam Rosenior has delivered his first message to Chelsea's players as the new Blues boss admitted he needs to "hit the ground running".

Rosenior was hired from French club Strasbourg on Tuesday to replace Enzo Maresca, who parted company with Chelsea last week after reported conflict with the Blues' hierarchy.

Rosenior earned plaudits for steering Strasbourg, who are in the same ownership group as Chelsea, into the UEFA Conference League via a seventh place finish in Ligue 1 last season.

The 41-year-old, who agreed a six-year contract with Chelsea, had previously managed Hull before being sacked after missing out on the Championship play-offs in 2024.

His lack of top-level managerial experience has been used by critics to question Chelsea's decision to hire Rosenior.

And the English coach, speaking just before the Blues' west London derby at Fulham on Wednesday, is well aware he must produce results quickly to satisfy Chelsea's demanding owners.

"Super excited. I can't wait. As a young man I have always wanted to be a coach, I've talked about it a lot," Rosenior told Sky Sports.

"For this opportunity to come up at this stage of my career is great but my biggest focus is not about being Chelsea manager, it's about being a winning Chelsea manager, and that is the message that I gave the players yesterday when I was fortunate enough to meet them for the first time.

"We need to hit the ground running for the rest of the season."

Although Rosenior has spoken to his new squad for the first time, he was set to watch from the Craven Cottage stands rather than take charge of the Premier League clash.

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Chelsea's Under-21 coach Calum McFarlane, who oversaw a 1-1 draw at Manchester City as interim boss last weekend, remained in charge against Fulham.

Rosenior's first game will come at second-tier Charlton in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

"I flew in from Strasbourg yesterday morning, so it is a difficult time frame for me to get in the tactical work I want to get into to get the lads to give them the best possible chance to win. I've got full faith in Calum and the lads to win tonight," he said.

"The lads when I was working in Strasbourg were very supportive of me. We are very aligned in terms of recruitment, style of play.

"That is why I was brought into the project to begin with. To be honest I never thought it would end up with me stood here in January as Chelsea manager but in life you never know what's going to happen."