As he reflected on a Chelsea tenure littered with Liam Rosenior Brentisms from “ageing men” to “respecting the ball”, John Obi Mikel himself channeled the self-promoting general manager of the Slough branch of Wernham Hogg in his scathing rebuke of the under-pressure Blues boss.

Rosenior won his first four Premier League games in charge of Chelsea but just one of his last six to leave the Blues sixth in the top flight in a slump which has also seen them dumped out of the Champions League and Carabao Cup.

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The 41-year-old has faced significant criticism over his very particular press conference stylings, and Mikel – who won ten major trophies in his time at Stamford Bridge including two Premier League titles and the Champions League – has begged Rosenior to “act normal”.

Mikel contests that Rosenior is putting on a front of authority for the cameras despite the players “not listening to him” and tore into the Chelsea boss as Brent did when the “pathetic” Neil Godwin started an impromptu game of French cricket with his employees.

“Just wanna be popular as the new boss. Ohhh, love me. Pathetic!”

Mikel said on The Obi One Podcast: “There’s something that is not quite right with his appointment. He’s trying to speak in a certain way. He comes in press conferences, he’s enforcing his authority by force. He wants to do it but it’s not natural.

“Every time I see him speak, it’s like he’s saying, ‘oh my team, oh my players, oh the way, I want to see my players’. You don’t do that. It’s like you’re trying to force yourself with the authority, you want to say, ‘Okay, this is me. I want to have control’. We all know you don’t have control.

READ MORE: Chelsea in crisis as players revolt amid biggest loss in Premier League history

“We all know you’re being controlled by the owners and they tell you what to do. So when he comes out in press conferences and makes this statement ‘oh my players, my team’ – you’ve only been there five minutes mate, so stop saying that, act normal, act natural and try and create some chemistry with you team.

“We were dumped out of the Champions League in a disgraceful manner and you follow that up and go to Everton and lose 3-0.

“I watched the game, it was awful to watch, ridiculous. They were all over us and played like they were PSG.”

“There is no cohesion, there is no chemistry, there is no trust between Liam Rosenior and his players.

“I see him, and it’s like the players are not listening to him.”