Ex-manager of two Premier League clubs on final shortlist for Strasbourg job as Liam Rosenior heads to Chelsea

Former Bournemouth and Wolves boss Gary O’Neil is a strong contender to replace Liam Rosenior as Strasbourg boss, talkSPORT understands.

The French club are on the lookout for a new manager with Rosenior closing in on a move to Chelsea.

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Like Chelsea, Strasbourg are a club owned by BlueCo, the consortium that took control of the Premier League side in 2022.

Strasbourg president Marc Keller and sporting director David Weir have been tasked with finding a successor to Rosenior and one of the final contenders is O’Neil.

talkSPORT understands O’Neil is in the final three candidates for the role with that being whittled down to two before a decision is made on Monday.

Strasbourg are seventh in Ligue 1 and top of the Conference League table having earned 16 points from a possible 18.

Gary O’Neil’s coaching career

O’Neil has been out of work since being sacked as Wolves boss in December 2024.

After retiring from playing in 2019, O’Neil began his coaching career at Liverpool where he worked as an assistant coach for their under-23 side.

He then joined Bournemouth in February 2021 as a senior first-team coach under Jonathan Woodgate.

Woodgate left at the end of the season and was replaced by Scott Parker, who guided Bournemouth back to the Premier League in the 2021/22 season.

Parker was given the boot early in the 2022/23 campaign, with O’Neil taking over as caretaker boss and was subsequently given the job on a permanent basis in November 2022.

Bournemouth stayed in the top flight, however, the club opted to appoint Andoni Iraola as his replacement.

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O’Neil’s work on the south coast led to Wolves giving him a chance as the Englishman replaced Julen Lopetegui at the helm.

Wolves came 14th in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup quarter-finals in O’Neil’s first season at the club.

They started O’Neil’s second season at the club poorly, though, and the club parted company with the 42-year-old in December 2024 with Wolves languishing in 19th place.

His replacement, Vitor Pereira, managed to steer Wolves away from relegation but he was sacked in November with the club destined to go down having won just one Premier League game all season.

O’Neil turned down the opportunity to go back to Wolves following Pereira’s sacking, while the former Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and West Ham midfielder has rebuffed approaches from Norwich and Millwall and was also linked with the Southampton job in November and Sheffield United post last summer.

Strasbourg’s season

Should O’Neil get the job, he’d be taking over a Strasbourg side making waves in Europe.

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They qualified for the Conference League by finishing seventh in the French top flight under Rosenior’s guidance.

Strasbourg finished top of the Conference League table, obtaining 16 points from a possible 18 in their league phase games.

Meanwhile, Strasbourg are currently seventh in Ligue 1.

Liam Rosenior heads to Chelsea

As for Rosenior, talkSPORT understands that Chelsea are on the verge of confirming him as their new manager.

Rosenior has flown to London to complete the formalities on his switch from Strasbourg.

The former Hull City boss is expected to take charge of Chelsea’s Premier League game at Fulham on Wednesday night.

He will replace Enzo Maresca, who spectacularly left his role as Blues boss on New Year’s Day.