Respecting the ball, losing the players - inside Rosenior's reign

Respecting the ball, losing the players - inside Rosenior's reign Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Liam Rosenior managed Chelsea 23 times, winning 11, losing 10 and drawing twoBySami Mokbel, Senior football correspondent and Nizaar Kinsella, Football reporterPublished4 minutes agoCommentsLess than four months after he signed a five-and-a-half year deal with Chelsea, Liam Rosenior's stint at Stamford Bridge has come to an abrupt end.The 41-year-old replaced Enzo Maresca in January. Ten defeats in 23 matches later, he has gone.Rosenior arrived with a bourgeoning reputation for playing attractive football, having led Ligue 1 Strasbourg to European football for the first time in eight years during his debut season in France.So where did it all go wrong at Chelsea? Rosenior's authority waned as results worsenedByNizaar KinsellaFootball reporterRosenior's tenure ended less than 24 hours after he publicly criticised his players in the wake of Tuesday's defeat at Brighton - an episode that lay at the heart of what ultimately went wrong for the Englishman.It was not for a lack of trying. Rosenior often defended his players, sometimes to his own detriment.His comments about the team "respecting the ball" followed an attempt to justify a pre-match huddle - an idea from his leadership group, rather than Rosenior himself - in which the players encircled referee Paul Tierney before a 1-0 defeat by Newcastle at Stamford Bridge in March. That episode may ultimately define his tenure. It marked the start of a run of five defeats without scoring, Chelsea's worst such sequence in 114 years, leading to his exit.But there were signs in the early days of Rosenior's short reign that the dressing room were unimpressed with him. Despite relative success at Strasbourg, the former Hull City boss had never managed in the Premier League. Views within the squad were mixed, but the Spanish-speaking contingent were particularly unconvinced. That...