Two months after Chelsea showed him the door, Liam Rosenior has a new job. The 41-year-old has been appointed head coach of Ligue 1 side Paris FC on a two-year deal, replacing Antoine Kombouaré, whose departure was announced the same day.
"I couldn't say no," Rosenior said after meeting with the Arnault family's representative Antoine Arnault, sporting director Marco Neppe, and general manager Jean-Marc Gallot. That's either refreshing honesty or a sign of how eager he was to get back into work after a Chelsea tenure he'd probably rather forget.
What went wrong at Chelsea — and why it matters here
The numbers at Chelsea were grim. 11 wins, 2 draws, 10 defeats. He'd been parachuted in following Enzo Maresca's exit in January — a thankless situation — but the results never came, and Callum McFarlane took over on a temporary basis before Xabi Alonso was brought in this summer. Not exactly the reference you put at the top of your CV.
Before Chelsea, though, Rosenior had actually built something real. At RC Strasbourg — also BlueCo-owned — he led the club to a seventh-place Ligue 1 finish in his sole full season, only the second time they'd cracked the top 10 since 2000. That's the version of Rosenior that Paris FC are buying into.
Paris FC are a club still finding their footing in the top flight. Last season was their first in Ligue 1 since 1978/79 — they'd spent decades bouncing between Ligue 2 and the third tier before finally coming back under Stéphane Gilli in 2025. Kombouaré steadied things with an 11th-place finish. The ceiling, though, is presumably higher, and that's what Rosenior has been hired to reach.
Rosenior opens away at Troyes on August 22
His first competitive match is a trip to ES Troyes AC on August 22, followed by a home game against OGC Nice eight days later. Nice will be a proper test early — Paris FC's odds to keep clean sheets in those opening fixtures won't be short, and how Rosenior sets his defensive shape from the off will tell you a lot about whether the Strasbourg version or the Chelsea version shows up.
"He is a modern, demanding coach, renowned for his ability to develop both individual players and the team as a whole," sporting director Neppe said. Rosenior's own pitch was simpler: intensity, enthusiasm, and letting players express themselves. Paris FC will find out quickly whether that translates into points.
