Former Chelsea captain John Terry has had plenty to say about the appointment of Liam Rosenior at Stamford Bridge this week, and the club has now made its feelings clear. The young Englishman took over from Enzo Maresca at the start of January after the Italian’s relationship with the hierarchy broke down completely.
So far, so good has been the mantra under the former Strasbourg manager. Despite being mocked by rival supporters for “lacking aura” in his team talks and general demeanour, Rosenior has overseen an unbeaten start with the Blues, recording four wins and two draws. As it stands, any suggestions that Todd Boehly and his Clearlake regime took the easy route in negotiations by appointing someone already working within their multi-club ownership model are being brushed aside.
However, Terry - who made 717 Premier League appearances for Chelsea and later began earning his coaching stripes as assistant manager at Aston Villa before returning to west London in an academy role in 2023 - has claimed he was “frustrated” after being overlooked by the club's decision-makers entirely.
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Terry has made his feelings very clear.
Terry "Frustrated" After Being Overlooked For Chelsea Caretaker Role
John Terry
While the 45-year-old has since moved to a role within the academy at Cobham, he revealed his frustration at being overlooked as a potential caretaker option earlier this year, with his ultimate dream of one day being in Chelsea's dugout put on hold for now. Following the departure of Maresca, under-21s coach Calum McFarlane was given the opportunity to take charge until the appointment of Rosenior.
On that call, which saw McFarlane oversee matches against Manchester City and Fulham, Terry revealed his disappointment when he told the Golf Life YouTube channel, where he took on another former England footballer in Jimmy Bullard in an 18-hole round of golf (watch from 39:05 of the video below):
"Not annoyed, probably more frustrated, because I was certainly part of that Under‑21s group that went over. So even if I didn’t take the team … Calum took the team, did really well, got a result out of the [Manchester City] game. I feel like I should have been part of that.
"Now, listen, people have got to make decisions. I love it when people make decisions and they go 'yes' or 'no'. Clearly, the ownership, or whoever made those decisions - the sporting directors - have gone 'no' not to include me, for whatever reason. I don’t know why."
Terry has been back in the public eye more frequently of late, recently weighing in on the debate over whether he or Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk deserves to be regarded as the greatest Premier League centre-back of all time. He has also appeared to test the waters in punditry, using his social media platforms to share his views on some of the biggest talking points in the sport.
Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali at Stamford Bridge
The claim from Terry appears to have left key figures at Chelsea confused, particularly given that, just months ago, he admitted he had stepped away from pursuing a managerial career. The former defender remains on a rolling contract at the club, but his current position is understood to focus more on mentoring within the academy rather than taking on full coaching responsibilities.
He told The Sun last August: "I’m done in terms of coaching. I’m enjoying my life, I’m working in the Chelsea academy. My role’s a part-time role, I love working with the kids, I love passing on my knowledge and experience to those boys." Explaining his role further, he added: "I don’t really coach at the moment, I’m a mentor, ambassador. I went for a couple of jobs and those days are gone for me.
"I’m enjoying my life a little bit, I’ve got my time to myself, I play a bit of golf, I’m in the academy and I have some family time as well. It’s a really good balance for me."
According to the Telegraph, there is bemusement within the club over the former defender’s comments this week. Meanwhile, Liam Rosenior has since been impressed enough by McFarlane’s work to promote him into his backroom team, a move that helped justify the decision to place him in temporary charge as opposed to Terry.
Any similar move involving Terry in a first-team capacity, however, would have been far more complicated given his stature and popularity among supporters - with the club wary of a repeat of the situation that saw Frank Lampard’s reputation take a short-term hit when he struggled to keep things in check after Graham Potter's dismissal in 2023.