Chelsea

Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane on his biggest challenge between now and the end of the season: "Making sure the lads are prepared for the strengths of Leeds and making sure we're ready to expose their weaknesses.

"There's still a lot of belief in this group. I know it has been tough recently but we've had some good games this year, good performances against top sides. A lot of talent, there is still a lot of belief in us to turn this around and get back on track."

Manchester City

While we continue to bring you the remainder of Calum McFarlane's news conference, it's a good time to let you know that we will be streaming Pep Guardiola's news conference live for you on this page.

The Man City boss is expected any time now and you can click the 'Watch live' button at the top to follow along.

Chelsea

Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane on Tuesday's loss to Brighton: "The performance wasn't good enough, everyone associated with the club knows that, the players know that. I thought Brighton wer very good on the night, I don't think they've got enough credit. They're a really good side, under a really good manager."

On the players not playing for the manager: "Who is to say? It is not anything i would comment on."

Chelsea

Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane on his experiences with Wembley: "I have been to Wembley, I was at Southampton when we got to the play-off final so that was probably the most recent time I was at Wembley. Everyone is excited, the whole group, the whole club, massive game, great opportunity to get to an FA Cup final, it's why we do the job we do."

Chelsea

Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane was asked whether or not he has spoken to Liam Rosenior since his departure: "Yeah I spoke to him. I am not sure how he has done that [spoken to the players] or how that has been done. I've spoken to him on the phone on Wednesday. He was good, it was a good conversation. I have a lot of respect for Liam, I didn't know him before he came to the club, he welcomed me in brilliantly. I have a great relationship with him and I am gutted it didn't work out."

Chelsea

Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane on getting respect from the players and whether he had a 'clear the air' meeting: "We haven't had a clear the air meeting, we have got the group focused for Sunday. Spoken about the game plan and how we are going to approach the game both in and out of possession. It's important we have a real focus for the game on Sunday. We can't be thinking about anything else, what's gone on in the past doesn't need to be spoken about. It's just everything geared towards Sunday."

Chelsea

Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane on the team's performances in recent weeks: "Yeah, we need to improve performance, the performance against Brighton was not good enough, we know that and it is about trying to figure out a reason why from a technical and tactical perspective, making sure the team are in a better place to execute the game plan."

On mentality: "I'm not saying technical and tactical is more important than physical or psychological, whatever you want to call it. They're all important and we need to make sure we are right in every area on Sunday, We need to be at our best to beat them."

Chelsea

Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane on being part of the coaching set-up where things have gone wrong: "I didn't say I don't know what they are [things that have gone wrong], I said I don't want to discuss them today. All our focus is to improve the team's performance for Leeds."

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea

Calum McFarlane confirms that Estevao will not play again this season.

He adds that he is unsure whether or not he will be fit for the World Cup.

Full quotes to follow...

Chelsea

Calum McFarlane says "the whole group are united" when asked if there is unrest in the dressing room among the playing squad.

Full quotes to follow...

Chelsea

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Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane on what has gone wrong in the team and what he can do: "It's not my place to say what has gone wrong or right. We've got a massive, massive game on Sunday. All I am thinking about is Leeds as a team, what are their strengths. What are our strengths and weaknesses and how we are going to prepare for that game."

Chelsea

Calum McFarlane says he has spoken to Liam Rosenior since his departure.

He says he's got a lot of respect for the former manager and is gutted that it didn't work out for him.

Full quotes to follow...

Chelsea

And where is new interim boss McFarlane, you ask? Well he's here now.

He says there has been "no clear the air meeting" between the squad since the departure of Liam Rosenior.

Full quotes to follow...

Chelsea

Calum McFarlane will take over at Chelsea as interim manager until the end of the season, after head coach Liam Rosenior was sacked after 106 days in charge of the club.

McFarlane, 40, is in his first season as Chelsea academy coach after joining from Southampton last year.

He started his coaching career with non-league side Croydon and worked in Manchester City's academy until 2023.

The Englishman crossed paths with Chelsea's academy technical director Glenn van de Kraan - who was appointed from City in 2024 - during his four years at Etihad Stadium.

McFarlane impressed the hierarchy at Chelsea during his time with the academy, winning 11 of his 21 games.

He guided the Blues' Under-19s to five wins and a draw from six matches in the Uefa Youth League to finish first in the league phase - beating Barcelona, Benfica, Bayern Munich and Ajax.

His final game in charge of the Under-21s ended in a 6-2 defeat against Benfica's Under-23s on 7 January. McFarlane was named as Rosenior's assistant with the first team the following day.

Chelsea

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Liam Rosenior's sacking means Chelsea's US owners need to appoint a fifth full-time manager since their arrival in 2022.

Chelsea insist they are not in active discussions with any candidates at this moment, though it is understood internal discussions over their priority targets are under way.

Landing their preferred candidates may be easier said than done, though, with a number of industry sources indicating the difficulties predecessors have run into over recruitment in recent years may mean top managers are reluctant.

Andoni Iraola is expected to be high on the club's final shortlist of candidates given his excellent work at Bournemouth while Fulham boss Marco Silva is another who is likely to be discussed if he decides not to renew his contract.

Edin Terzic - a contender for the Athletic Bilbao vacancy, Xabi Alonso and Cesc Fabregas may also emerge as candidates, while the club are mindful of Eddie Howe's potential availability this summer.

Ben Ramsdale
BBC Sport

With all of this morning's news conferences now done and dusted, it's time to turn our attention to this afternoon.

Nine in total coming your way but we'll start with Chelsea, who will have Calum McFarlane in the hotseat before this weekend's FA Cup semi-final match against Leeds United.

This is becoming quite the occurrence, isn't it...

Crystal Palace

A final word from Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner on facing Liverpool for the fourth time this season: "I think when you talk before a season and say: ‘OK, we win once against Liverpool’, you would say ‘yeah, it's good’. And if you say we’d win twice against Liverpool, you would say, ‘well, it would be very good’. And you say we win three times against Liverpool, it's amazing."

"And now we have the opportunity to win four times against Liverpool in one season. I think that's something unique. First of all, you don't play a team like Liverpool four times a year very often.

"And on the other side, then having already three wins, that's massive for us, and that's why we're really highly motivated, because maybe this will never happen again, and it's a massive chance."

Crystal Palace

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Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner on Liam Rosenior, who was sacked by Chelsea earlier this week: "When I did my coaching programme, we went to Nyom to the UEFA headquarters and the first speaker was on screen. First it was ‘welcome to the land of no sleep!’- and then there was the average time you spend at a club is 1.2 years, and 56% of managers don't find a second job after the first one. ‘You can still leave and think about it if you want to become a manager.’

"That's just the reality where we are in. If you don't like it, you have to look for a different job. It's very volatile, we know it, yes. Do I think that's the best? I don't think so.

"You always need a little bit of time to implement your ideas, to create, and I think it is the most important thing to create a winning environment, an environment where everybody is aligned and goes in the same direction.

"I think you see it in the Premier League, how many managers are still in charge who started this season, and it's just the reality."

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner was asked whether the team could qualify for European football through league position, rather than just winning the Conference League: "It’s always better having two routes than none. And on the other side, you can't praise the players enough for their mentality, for their character, for their work ethic, for their attitude, for the spirit we have here and for always sticking together and really working very, very hard.

"I think we really created here altogether a great environment where everybody likes to come. There are already players here, having breakfast three, four hours before training, and it's not that they have to be here right now. It shows that the players are feeling well here.

"This is one requirement for being successful: that you enjoy what you're doing, you enjoy the environment you are working in, and then you also have this intrinsic motivation to get better, because if you always need somebody to push and kick you and kick you, I think you will never get the best out of yourself.

"But if you feel well, you like to be here, you like to work, you like to improve, but also enjoying and having fun together, I think this is the foundation of achieving big things.

"I think this was the foundation of why we already have won two titles and are playing a great season, why we can deal with difficult situations through a season. If you've already played more than 50 games, there's still, let's say, 10 or 15 where you're struggling. It's normal.

"But when you have this environment, you have these kind of characters in your team, then you overcome it and you will get the turnaround and be back on track, and I think that's what we have proven."

Crystal Palace

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Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner confirmed that Adam Wharton will be available for Saturday's game after he missed Monday night's 0-0 draw against West Ham: "Adam [Wharton] is good. He is fit and trained yesterday without any issues. So he’ll be available for Liverpool."

“All the others are the same, so we’ve got no new injury concerns, which is good news.

“Of course, two injuries we still have are Eddie Nketiah and Evann Guessand. So they will miss this game.”

However, there are doubts about Nathaniel Clyne, who would make his 250th club appearance if he featured against his former club: "One question mark we have is Nathaniel Clyne. He was ill yesterday, but then was better in the evening. He’s being assessed at the moment. But hopefully he is available.”