Rosenior was confirmed as Chelsea head coach on Tuesday morning, but didn’t arrive at our Surrey training base until later that afternoon. By that time, McFarlane and the Blues staff were already in the middle of preparing for the trip to our west London neighbours.

To minimise disruption, Rosenior introduced himself to the Blues squad and then stepped back from the pre-match preparations, something McFarlane appreciated.

‘Liam arrived an hour or so before training on Tuesday,’ McFarlane explained after our trip to Craven Cottage, which ended in a 2-1 defeat after the Blues had been reduced to ten men in the 22nd minute.

‘We were having a team meeting to outline what training looked like and he came in beforehand and spoke to the players about how excited he is to be at the club, his values, what he wants to bring to the team and what the objectives are.

‘He then stepped away, but knew the game plan from watching the meetings back. He then watched training, and I spoke to him afterwards about what we were going after [against Fulham]. Because he came in so late, we had already done the prep, so he left it to us.

'Other than encouraging words and being really complimentary about the work we have done, [he didn’t say anything]. He gave us free rein to pick the team and decide the tactics.

‘We are pretty aligned in how we think about football; if it were completely the other way, maybe it would have been different. But he has been really respectful and trusting and let us get on with this job before he starts with the group tomorrow.’

After a whirlwind 48 hours in which Rosenior has bid farewell to RC Strasbourg, arrived at Chelsea and watched the Blues in action against Fulham, our new head coach has today got down to work with the first-team group.

Rosenior has already outlined what he expects from his side, saying: ‘I want us to play high-tempo, aggressive, front-foot football.

'I want the fans at home to be off their seat in the first ten minutes and feel like it's wave after wave, because when I played against the likes of (Michael) Essien, (Frank) Lampard, (Didier) Drogba, Arjen Robben, Joe Cole, you felt when you turned up at Stamford Bridge it was going to be a really difficult day.

'I want to create that feeling. I want us to be intense, I want us to be brave and fearless, and if we do all of those things, we can have a really good time together.’

McFarlane is positive that, having watched sides coached by Rosenior previously, the new Chelsea head coach will be able to implement his style with a squad that is unified and full of quality.

'Going 1-0 down at Craven Cottage and being down to ten men for a long period in the game, you don’t get back in the game if you don’t have unity and togetherness, this group has that alongside quality,' said McFarlane. 'So that isn’t something we have to worry about; we have that in abundance.

‘I’ve seen Liam’s teams play before, and he plays really attractive football, really exciting football, and what fans want at any club is that their players are putting in effort, quality, commitment and winning matches. Of course, you get the supporters onside by winning, and that will be the objective.’