Liam Rosenior’s first match as Chelsea manager comes laced with giant-killing danger as he takes the Blues to second-tier Charlton in the FA Cup third round.
Troubled Tottenham boss Thomas Frank is fighting to avoid the sack, while Manchester United are also in turmoil as caretaker manager Darren Fletcher tries to lift the gloom.
Liam Rosenior’s last taste of managing in English football came in the sedate surroundings of Plymouth, where his Hull side slumped to a 1-0 defeat to bring a disappointing end to their bid to reach the Championship play-offs in May 2024.
When Rosenior was sacked just days after that loss, a less confident character would have found it hard to believe they were destined to manage Chelsea less than two years later.
But the ultra-driven Rosenior has done exactly that, earning a reputation as a young coach to watch by leading unfashionable Strasbourg to a seventh-place finish in the French league last season.
Despite his solid work at another club controlled by Chelsea owners BlueCo, Rosenior was still a surprise choice to replace Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge.
Now the 41-year-old will experience life under a microscope, with his debut at The Valley serving as an intriguing introduction.
Rosenior knows he must make a fast start to keep the doubters at bay, and a loss at Charlton, languishing in 19th place in the Championship, would be a disastrous opening to his reign.
“For this opportunity to come up at this stage of my career is great, but my biggest focus is not about being Chelsea manager, it’s about being a winning Chelsea manager,” said Rosenior, whose father Leroy played for Charlton in the 1990s.
“We need to hit the ground running for the rest of the season.”
Heralded as a slam-dunk appointment after his impressive spell with Brentford, Thomas Frank’s Tottenham travails have shown the Dane just how hard managing one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs really is.
Tottenham moved quickly to hire the 52-year-old after sacking Ange Postecoglou at the end of last season.
But, like so many of his Tottenham predecessors, Frank has found it impossible to live up to expectations at the north London club.
In stark contrast to Postecoglou’s attacking game-plan, Frank’s prosaic tactics focus on defensive organisation, work-rate and set-piece prowess.
Those qualities were lauded at Brentford, but Tottenham fans see their club far differently.
After three wins in their last 13 games, many have already turned on the Dane, who will be pushed closer to the sack if they lose at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Having stepped in as Manchester United’s caretaker boss, Darren Fletcher has another chance to impress and keep the Red Devils’ hopes of silverware this season alive against Brighton.
United plan to use an interim head coach to see them through until May while they search for a permanent boss after dismissing Ruben Amorim on Monday.
The club have reportedly spoken to their former manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and ex-midfielder Michael Carrick, sacked by Middlesbrough earlier this season, about returning as interim boss.
Fletcher’s case to remain in charge beyond the weekend was not aided by a 2-2 draw at lowly Burnley on Wednesday, despite a much-improved display in attacking areas.
A dismal run of one win from their last five games at Old Trafford brought the curtain down on Amorim’s troubled reign.
Fletcher has to stop that rot against the Seagulls, who had won on their three previous trips to the Theatre of Dreams prior to a 4-2 defeat in October.
