Rosenior appointment at Chelsea a boost for ambitious academy coaches, says McFarlane

LONDON, Jan 6 : Chelsea's ‌appointment of young Englishman Liam Rosenior as head coach will be an inspiration to those hoping to follow his path, according to Calum McFarlane, the man who will hand over the reigns after Wednesday's trip to Fulham.

Chelsea's Under-21 coach stepped in after Enzo Maresca parted ways with the club on New Year's Day and masterminded a 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Sunday.

McFarlane has been given responsibility for the Premier League game at Fulham, when Rosenior will watch from the stands before assuming his duties on Thursday.

The 41-year-old Rosenior is untested as a coach ‌in England's top flight, having had a spell as interim manager at Derby County ‌and then as head coach at Hull City, both in the Championship, before taking over at Racing Strasbourg.

A seventh-placed finish in Ligue 1 last season enhanced Rosenior's reputation and McFarlane believes after Fulham the Londoner is ready to put his stamp on a expensively-assembled Chelsea squad, while flying the flag for home-grown coaches.

"I really enjoy watching his sides. They have aggressive, front-footed football and I am really excited about the work he is going to do at this club," McFarlane told reporters.

"I'm sure all young ‍English coaches from an academy background will be, in some way, rooting for Liam. It is really inspirational for young academy coaches to see that and we hope he does really well."

Rosenior served in a similar role to McFarlane at Brighton and Hove Albion after ending his playing career, aged 34.

At Strasbourg he put his faith in youth with the French club's starting line-up amongst the youngest ​in Europe and there is a strong ‌focus on young players at Chelsea with the average age of Maresca's starting line-ups