3 January, 2026 Micheal Nzubechi 0 Comments

Chelsea Under-21 head coach Calum McFarlane was travelling to the Windsor light show with his wife and children on New Year’s Day when he received a call from one of his superiors asking how soon he could get to Cobham

Enzo Maresca was no longer in charge, and Chelsea needed someone to temporarily take the lead for their trip to Manchester City on Sunday.

Naturally, McFarlane never made it to Windsor, so the missus wasn’t too pleased, but he will be under the lights of the Etihad Stadium. Him in one technical area, managing his first-ever senior match, and Pep Guardiola in the other, overseeing his 562nd for City.

When McFarlane pulled into Cobham an hour later, the 37-year-old parked by the academy building out of habit. Only this time, he walked towards the first-team headquarters, a new all-access security pass having been prepared for him in advance.

The immediate futures of Maresca’s backroom members, including Willy Caballero, are still being finalised. They were contracted to Chelsea, after all, not Maresca. But Caballero and Co are not currently helping with the City trip.

Instead, McFarlane, his Under-21s assistants Andy Ross and James Simmonds, academy analyst Adam Keep and the set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva, who does hold a UEFA Pro Licence of his own, spent their Thursday afternoon studying videos of Guardiola’s side. They worked late, also watching City’s 0-0 draw away at Sunderland live.

McFarlane spoke with co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, as well as co-owner Behdad Eghbali, who has been at Cobham to work on finalising their next head coach. Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior remains the favourite to replace Maresca. Their message to McFarlane was: ‘We fully support you and trust you and good luck.’

On Friday morning, Chelsea’s players returned to the training ground for the first time since Tuesday’s disappointing 2-2 draw with Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge. A meeting, described as fairly informal, was held with Winstanley and Stewart explaining to Cole Palmer et al what had happened and what was coming next. McFarlane and his staff were also officially introduced to the squad, who, led by club captain Reece James, are said to have been extremely supportive of the situation he is in.

Training ran a little longer than planned – plenty to get through – but McFarlane then came in to meet the media. He is not used to press conferences, so some nerves were understandable. It was a packed room, too, but the young coach handled himself well as he discussed his ‘crazy’ 24 hours.

We asked him to tell us his coaching journey in his own words, and McFarlane said: ‘I’ve only been here for six months. I joined in the summer from Southampton where, for two years, I was the Under 21s coach and Under 18s coach.

‘Before that, I was at Manchester City for three years, working various different roles at 15s, 16s, and 18s. Before that, I was at Norway for three years at a club called Tromso and previous to that, I was at Fulham and Crystal Palace, so it’s been a long journey but I’m here now.

‘I wanted to be a footballer, but I wasn’t good enough. I started coaching really early at 16. I had a wide array of coaching experiences, from primary schools to Sunday league clubs to non-league clubs. I’m really enjoying the role I am doing at the moment.’

On how it was to take charge of a senior session, McFarlane continued: ‘The energy, enthusiasm and training was exceptional. They seem really focused. They’re really driven and hungry. They know we’ve got a massive game. You can feel that.

‘They’re professionals. They’ve done this a long time. They’ve been here before. Reece has been brilliant. He’s been a real leader, supported the staff and players. You couldn’t ask for any more.’

Category: new, Sports

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