Former Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior has claimed his Stamford Bridge sacking was ‘nothing to do with football’ in a cryptic comment about ‘tolerance’ in English football.

In an interview with So Foot, via Sport Witness, Rosenior said: ‘In a country where tolerance is an important value, what happened there has nothing to do with football.’

Chelsea had lost five consecutive league matches without scoring a goal for the first time since 1912 when Rosenior was sacked in April. But he had been the subject of mockery online for his perceived ‘LinkedIn’-style comments such as suggesting that ‘the word manage – if you split the two words, it’s man age – you’re ageing men.’

Pressed on his answer about his sacking, Rosenior added: ‘I know, I answered without answering it. Actually, the moment that worried me the most was at the beginning, when we went through that five-game winning streak.

‘Any club would have been happy with such a run, but not Chelsea. You get good results and you’re in the spotlight.

‘Then, there was a kind of snowball effect in the media. They made fun of those instructions I gave (Alejandro) Garnacho on a scrap of paper when we were down to 10 men against PSG.

Liam Rosenior was seen passing a note to Alejandro Garnacho with Chelsea 8-2 down on aggregate against PSG – and the reaction to it clearly still rankles with him

Then-Chelsea manager Rosenior was compared to The Office star David Brent online

‘The clothes I wore became a joke, the way I spoke too. I’m not a joke! You’re the first people I’m talking to about this, and probably the last for a long time, but one day, I’ll tell you what really happened.’

Rosenior added: ‘In England, there’s this preconceived notion of what a Premier League coach should be, how he should behave. You have to conform to that standard. People who know me know that I’m someone who tries to be sincere and authentic.’

More to follow. 

The former Strasbourg manager is now enjoying life back in France as manager of Paris FC