- 8 hours ago
Rosenior on Chelsea latest ahead of Port Vale FA Cup quarter final
03/04/2026
Cobham training centre, Surrey, UK
03/04/2026
Cobham training centre, Surrey, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:17Okay. Good morning and thank you for joining us. We will take the usual format today with
00:22a broadcast section and then a written section embargoed for this evening at 10.30. We'll
00:28begin with Gail Davison, Sky Sports News. Off you go, Gail.
00:32Good morning, everyone. Let's just get the injury bit out of the way. I guess Rhys James
00:38was the one you thought might be available for this international break. How's he getting
00:43along?
00:43He's getting along really well, but not ready yet. Not ready yet. Trevor's progressing really,
00:48really well as well. Levi, it's really good to have him back in full training, but it's
00:53going to take a few more weeks. He needs to tick those boxes. But no, we've got a pretty
00:58fresh group. Esteval, Jamie Gittins is back, which is really positive going into the running.
01:04And in terms of sort of Rhys, maybe an extra week, so the City game, is that a possibility
01:09for some of those guys?
01:09I don't know. We work day to day. So I don't want to give a timeline and not come through
01:14with that timeline, put pressure on those players, but they're all working really, really well
01:18at this moment.
01:20It seems like not just for you, but for quite a few clubs, the international break has given
01:25the players an opportunity to, shall we say, speak their mind a little bit. A few stories
01:30have come up. It feels like about two seconds ago, I was asking you about Enzo Fernandez and
01:34those comments post-PSG. He's spoken again and was asked, obviously, about if he wasn't
01:40going to live in London, where would he be? Just further kind of building this momentum
01:46around a narrative around Madrid. What have you, have you spoken to him about those comments again?
01:52Because last time you defended him and I wondered what potential it is.
01:55Yeah, I spoke with Enzo an hour ago as a football club. With me as part of that process, we've
02:01made
02:02a decision. He won't be available for tomorrow's game and he won't be available for Manchester City
02:07on the next Sunday. I think for Enzo, it's disappointing to speak in that way. What I will say about
02:13Enzo
02:14is in terms of him as a character, as a person. I've got no bad words to say about him,
02:18but
02:18I think a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build. So we had
02:24to make a sanction and that was a decision we've made.
02:26Did you talk about this unity? We've obviously seen that, haven't we, on the pitch. How disruptive
02:32can that be to what you're trying to do here?
02:35It's not ideal. I think a lot of this stems from, we had a really, really difficult 10 days,
02:40probably the most difficult 10 days of my career as a player or a coach. We had, I'll
02:46go back to the first game against PSG, the belief in the group and what we were doing.
02:50The performance was top and it all fell apart in 15 minutes and there was a huge emotional
02:55dump from that game, which I think fell through to the next three games that we played. Why
03:00was there such a big emotional dump? Because the players were so motivated and had so much
03:04belief that we could do something really special in the Champions League this year. I feel like,
03:09not just the comments from Enzo, but Cuckoo's interview as well stems from that. It actually
03:15stems from a good place where they want to do well. They want the club to succeed. But
03:19in those moments, I think we need more emotional stability as a group of players, from me as
03:25the head coach, as a football club, so that we don't respond in the way we have done to
03:29the setbacks we've had.
03:31I'll come on to Cuckoo in a moment, but just in terms of Enzo, was that your decision,
03:36the club's decision, or is it a case of some of the players saying, actually, this is, we're not
03:41comfortable with this. And he's, I mean, he's been your captain the last few games.
03:44No, Enzo, firstly, as a character, as a person, as a player, I have the utmost respect for
03:50Enzo Fernandes. What he's achieved in his career, the player that he is, he's frustrated
03:56because he wanted us, he wanted Chelsea Football Club to be successful this year. He still
04:00wants that and we still can be. In terms of the decision, I've said this from day one,
04:05it's not all about just me. It's not all about the sporting directors or the ownership
04:09or the players. We are aligned in every decision that we make. So it was a joint decision.
04:14And saying that the door is not closed on Enzo, that's very important. It's a sanction.
04:19You have to protect, especially this football club. This is a winning football club with
04:24traditions of success. You have to protect that culture. And I think in terms of that,
04:28the line was crossed in the international break.
04:30As far as you can say, when you had that conversation with him, is he happy here? Do you get
04:34the sense
04:35he's here for the long term? Or is he looking for that escape?
04:39Well, I can't speak for him. What I do know is when he's been on the pitch, even at Everton,
04:44when we lost the game, really disappointing performance, there was no lack of commitment
04:49in his performance. There was no lack of wanting the club to do well. In terms of speaking for him
04:54or what he wants in his future, that's not for me to speak about. I want to focus on a
04:58massive game
04:58tomorrow, where if we win, we can make an FA Cup semi-final. And I want to focus on us
05:02still making the Champions League, which is a big possibility.
05:05You mentioned Mark Kukere there. I guess he chose his words quite carefully.
05:13You've got a sense, if you read between the lines of the frustration, that there's clearly
05:17a group of older players that don't believe they can maybe win in this current structure
05:24that you're working in. Is that a fair assessment of those questions?
05:26No, I think, again, fantastic conversation with Mark yesterday. Half an hour in my office.
05:33The disappointing thing for me, what we're trying to create here in my time, I've only
05:38been here for three, coming up to three months. I can't speak. I'm enjoying it, even the difficult
05:43moments. I want players, I've said to them from day one, if they've got any issue with how
05:49we do things, to come and speak to me and speak to the sporting directors. My disappointment
05:53in Mark's interview is where it went to. I think he should have spoken to us first about
05:59the things that he's feeling. I want players to feel like they can speak openly and honestly
06:03for the benefit of the football club. And those conversations we've had with Rhys James,
06:09that's why Rhys has signed a new contract, because he believes in where we're going. And as a football club,
06:13we know, we know we need to improve, myself included. And we actually know what we're going
06:18to do in the summer to achieve those objectives.
06:20Just finding on that, why do you think that Mark doesn't feel that he can speak to you or one
06:27of your
06:28maybe many sporting directors? Do you think that he's just unaware of where the kind of
06:34that lies within all of this?
06:36Everybody knows Mark Kukurea, knows his character. He's a great character. He's passionate.
06:41He wants to do well. I think for him, he did an interview, a long interview where he spoke
06:46with passion and he spoke his mind. Yesterday, while I was in the office with him for half an
06:51hour was to remind him, you can come and speak to me. You can be honest with me and you
06:56can be
06:57honest with the club about what you want. But that takes time. I've been here for two and a half
07:01months. We've played 20 games. So to build those relationships and those connections takes time.
07:06But Mark is fully committed. He wants to be here. He's made that very, very clear to me.
07:11And he actually believes in where we're moving forward.
07:13And just one for me, I guess you and I both know this noise goes away when you win and
07:18when you're playing well.
07:19So with that in mind, a cup, an early bit of silverware in your Chelsea head coach career can go
07:28a long way.
07:28We've seen that with other managers starting out. So just how important does tomorrow become?
07:33I mean, this becomes an absolute nightmare if you don't go through.
07:36Yeah, we want to win. It's not about me. I've said that. It's not about me winning silverware.
07:42It's about this club being successful now and in the long term.
07:44And to do that, you have to go through difficult moments. You learn a lot about the characters in your
07:49group.
07:50And I'm talking about the characters, not just in the playing staff, but the support staff, coaching staff, myself.
07:56You have to go through these processes, this pain, to make sure you make good decisions moving forward.
08:00Thank you. Keris?
08:03Can I just check with Mark Cooper? You mentioned that Enzo Fernandes won't be available in the next couple of
08:08games.
08:08Is there any kind of similar kind of sanction being considered for Mark or is that separate?
08:12No, that's a separate. That's a separate case. And Mark is available and will be involved in the game tomorrow.
08:18Thank you. Just with those kind of everything that we've spoken about, who will be kind of wearing the armband
08:26and who are the leaders that you're looking to step up with?
08:28Reece injured, Trevor injured and now Fernandes unavailable.
08:32Who are you looking at as kind of the leaders in the camp at the moment?
08:35We've got many. We've got many. Moe Caicedo in our leadership group, Tosin. We've got Cole Palmer. We've got Jao
08:42Pedro.
08:43We've got Mark Cucure. We've got leaders in the group. So I'll make that decision later on today when I
08:49name the team and you'll see who's captain tomorrow.
08:52And if I can, just really briefly as well, you mentioned there looking at what you need to address in
08:56the summer.
08:57Have you had conversations about bringing kind of more experience into this group?
09:00Bringing, bringing players with emotional stability, bringing good characters in who in difficult moments can understand what it takes to
09:08win in those difficult moments.
09:10And I have, and not just me. We've had great conversations. I have conversations with the ownership, the sporting directors
09:16about what we do in the summer.
09:17And we've also had conversations with certain players in the group as well.
09:20We were really, really happy with the direction that we're going to go in.
09:24And before that, we need to make sure that we challenge for the Champions League, get into the Champions League
09:29and hopefully win the FA Cup.
09:31Thanks, Geris. Rob?
09:33Aside from Enzo and Mark, have you been feeling like you've got the kind of relationship with the players where
09:39they can come talk to you about the things that are going well and not well with the club?
09:45Yeah, we've had, honestly, all of them, massive conversations, not just about how we play or results, how we move
09:56forward and what we need, what we need to improve.
09:58There's a lot of improvements for us to make. But at the same time, I want a culture here where
10:04we can be open and be transparent and challenge each other.
10:07And that comes from the players. I want them to be demanding of each other as well.
10:10So to create that, you have to have difficult conversations, but you also need to tell each other when you're
10:15doing something well.
10:16At the moment, you'll see in the next, in the coming weeks, there'll be things that happen around this football
10:21club that will actually speak louder than words.
10:23And you'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks in terms of the commitment of the players to
10:27this project.
10:28Has there been a reaction among the squad to what's been said publicly in the last few days by those
10:34players?
10:35Yeah, I think that's something that stays, there's certain conversations that need to stay behind closed doors.
10:39What there isn't, I'll make this very, very clear.
10:42There is not a rift or in the dressing room.
10:45There's not a group of players who are not speaking to another group of players.
10:48We are together and me included.
10:51We go through and every club goes through difficult moments in the season.
10:54We had a very, very difficult 10 days as a football club in terms of the results, in terms of
10:59being out of the Champions League.
11:01Now is the time for us to come together back from the international break and make sure we commit and
11:07perform in the manner that we need to do.
11:09Thanks, Rob. Thanks, everyone. We'll bring that section to an end. Cameras off, please.
11:12Have a nice day...
11:13Please and watch on the end. Cameras off and Canadians...
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