Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink ‘shocked’ by sacking of Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior

Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was “shocked” to learn of Liam Rosenior’s Stamford Bridge sacking but believes the club’s hands were tied.

Former Hull and Strasbourg boss Rosenior signed a six-and-a-half-year deal in January but Chelsea have slumped since, most recently in a 3-0 defeat to Brighton to lose five league games in a row without scoring for the first time in 114 years.

Calum McFarlane will take charge until the end of the season, starting with Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds.

“I am shocked. I didn’t expect it to happen this soon,” said Hasselbaink, reacting on Sky Sports News. “I know that he was under pressure because, look, Chelsea is a big club, expect to win.

“It hasn’t happened before, or it (has been a long time) that they haven’t scored in five games, so the stats are not in his favour.

“But then still, because he’s been not that long at Chelsea, I would have thought that they would give him a little bit more time.

“I am a little bit surprised, but then on the other hand I’m not because it’s football. The shirt is heavy, the supporters are used to winning a lot of trophies, used to seeing the team competing week in and week out.”

“The (Brighton) game was poor.”

After that contest, Rosenior said: “You can read anything into it that you want and whether they’re playing for me or not. The performance in itself was damning. It stood against everything I believe in”, and revealed he needed to figure out “who I can trust and rely on in difficult moments, because not enough players showed that”.

He also added: “The buck stops with me. I have thick skin and I understand why the fans are frustrated.

Hasselbaink said: “You could see (why) he was saying what he said. He acknowledged that, but I thought he would get at least the Leeds game on Sunday. But look, they have to do what they have to do.”

Before news of Rosenior’s departure broke, former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill told Sky Sports he thought the FA Cup was now the Blues’ chance to save their season.

He said: “Leeds are probably watching this thinking, ‘We’ve got a wounded animal here, we’ve got a chance in the semi-final’.

“The FA Cup now is, strong word, it’s a must to save the season. It needs to be a hell of a lot better.”

Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy, also speaking before Rosenior was sacked, labelled the display against Brighton a “gutless and spineless performance”.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s The Sports Bar on Tuesday night, Cundy said: “That was absolutely turgid. Disgusting. And do you know what? It’s getting worse.”

He continued: “I think it’s the worst performance I’ve ever seen, and I’ve played in a few, from a Chelsea side.

“I genuinely can’t think of a worse performance than that. I cannot think of a worse, (more) gutless, spineless performance.”