Chelsea sacked Liam Rosenior this week after just three-and-a-half months in charge in West London
Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior (L) and Newcastle United's Eddie Howe
Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior (L) and Newcastle United's Eddie Howe
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When Liam Rosenior was appointed as Chelsea's new head coach in January, it was seen as a brave appointment but an innovative one.
After all, Rosenior was seen as one of European football's brightest young coaches having impressed across 18 months in charge at French club Strasbourg, who he had guided to Europa Conference League qualification in his first season at the club. It followed a positive spell as manager of Hull City, too.
Of course, the fact Strasbourg and Chelsea are both owned by BlueCo made it a convenient appointment but such was the impression he made in North Eastern France Chelsea made the decision to part with the trophy-winning head coach they had at their disposal in the search of something different, a new voice, a fresh impetus.
There were other mitigating factors behind their decision to part ways with Enzo Maresca but there were plenty of dissenters telling the Blues to be careful what they wished for as they dispensed with the Italian.
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In his first season at the club, Maresca won the FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Conference League and secured a top four finish to qualify for the Champions League.
He was sacked with the club in fifth place on January 1 after three defeats in four matches and growing frustration among the ownership for his comments about the way the club was being run. If Chelsea ended the season in fifth they would secure Champions League football next term.
Fast forward three-and-a-half months into his five-and-a-half year contract and Rosenior was sacked with the Blues in eighth place having lost seven of their last eight games in all competitions, with five league defeats in a row without scoring a goal. It was a managerial gamble that spectacularly backfired.
Callum McFarlane will be the club's interim manager between now and the end of the season and it is a lesson to any club looking to move away from a trophy winning head coach in search of a shiny new replacement who had never managed in the Premier League. Take note, Newcastle.
Rosenior's tenure will be defined by infamously bizarre press conference quotes - namely comments about his team 'respecting the ball' after a pre-match huddle against Newcastle that surrounded the ball, and referee Paul Tierney, before they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Now, Chelsea are said to be looking for Premier League experience, with Marco Silva and Andoni Iraola of interest, although the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso and Edin Terzic have been mentioned in dispatches.
The whole saga should serve as a warning to Newcastle amid increasing pressure on Eddie Howe. That is not to undermine any supporter of the opinion that Howe has taken the club as far as he can but if they are to make a change they have to make sure they get it absolutely right.
Being 14th in the Premier League is far from good enough. So is eight defeats in their last 11 league matches and five defeats in their last six home games.
But it is also easy to forget Newcastle reached a Carabao Cup semi-final this season and equalled their best ever Champions League performance. That is before you remind yourself that Howe guided the Magpies to two Champions League qualifications and two cup finals in three years, ending the club's 56-year trophy drought with Carabao Cup success last season.
The question Newcastle have to ask themselves is whether one bad season outweighs three very good ones that preceded it? Or are this season's trends impossible to ignore?
Do they want someone to lead the rebuild who knows the inner workings of the club or does the man at the head of the rebuild need to do so with fresh eyes?
Do Newcastle want to be loyal to Howe in times of trouble or do they want to become a reactive club like Chelsea - who are now searching for their seventh new manager during Howe's time on Tyneside. You need only look at Spurs, too, in recent years to see how badly it can go.
Change can be good but only if you get the decision absolutely right. If that is the avenue Newcastle need to go down they need to be absolutely clear what qualities are needed to get the best out of this group of players that Howe perhaps does not possess.
It is a divisive issue and there are valid arguments on either side of the fence when it comes to debating Howe's future. But Rosenior's tumultuous Blues reign should serve as a warning of the need to get that decision absolutely right.