Neville names Chelsea stars who ‘stitched up’ Rosenior and tears into BlueCo

Gary Neville has ripped into Chelsea owners BlueCo after they sacked Liam Rosenior on Wednesday and picked out two Blues stars who “stitched up” the 41-year-old.

Chelsea ‘parted company’ with the former Hull City and Strasbourg boss after losing five consecutive Premier League games without scoring a goal.

With Chelsea now seven points off Liverpool and Champions League qualification in fifth, and with the FA Cup semi-final with Leeds coming on Sunday, Calum McFarlane will return for a second interim stint of the season.

READ MORE: Ten reasons why Chelsea have sacked Liam Rosenior: ‘Aura’, Lampard, rebellion…

Neville has defended Rosenior and instead aimed his ire at two Chelsea stars and BlueCo, who “don’t have a clue what they’re doing.”

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Neville said: “The results have not been good enough. When the results aren’t good enough, a manager gets sacked.

“But come on, Cucurella and Fernandez – experienced players and probably the only two experienced players that Chelsea have got – stitched him up in the last few weeks by calling out the fact that they basically love Maresca, but they weren’t doing that well under him.

“I think Maresca is a fine coach as well, but this policy at Chelsea and this plan – I don’t see it. These six- and eight-year agreements, you see it is almost laughable from the start, whether it be for a manager or a player.

“The owners don’t have a clue what they are doing. I’ve made massive mistakes as an owner, but sometimes you’ve got to accept that. I’ve spoken publicly about the challenges we’ve had.

“But they’re all over the place. I just don’t get it, really. You deserve what you get in football and it’s a reflection on them; it’s not a reflection on a coach who, to be fair, probably shouldn’t have been advanced as soon as he was into the role.

“He should have been left to develop his career as a promising young coach. You don’t turn down the Chelsea job. I can see why it was appealing, but the reality is he just has to get on with his coaching career now and put it behind him as quickly as he can because it is a club at this moment in time that is a little bit crazy in its decision-making.”

Neville added: “I’m not shocked Liam’s leaving the club. I’m shocked he’s leaving today. I thought it would probably happen at the end of the season.

“I thought they would persevere until the end of the season after giving him a six-year deal. It’s not a reflection on Liam at all. He’s lost a lot of football matches in the last few weeks and he’ll be disappointed with that.

“But it’s time for the owners, sporting directors and players to reflect enormously on their role in what’s happened in the last few weeks. Their fans will be absolutely disgusted by the way this has gone.

“The owners have got it really badly wrong. I said at the time, they’ve got a group of talented players, young sporting directors in respect of the experience relating to Europe, you’ve got an ownership that’s young in respect that it’s only two or three years in. You need some experience somewhere in the club.”

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