Not long after Enzo Maresca was sacked by Chelsea, the Italian found himself in the middle of an awkward situation which irked a fellow manager
Leicester City manager Gary Rowett was reportedly left irritated by the sight of ex-Chelsea and Foxes boss Enzo Maresca sitting in the directors’ box for his first home match in charge. Rowett was appointed as Marti Cifuentes’ replacement in February.
Leicester have only won two of their 20 matches in 2026 and their relegation to League One was confirmed with the 2-2 home draw against Hull City. There will be no shortage of moments the club and its supporters will look back on throughout this wretched and damaging campaign.
Yet one particular situation reportedly got under Rowett’s skin. A matter of weeks after Maresca’s shock sacking at Chelsea, the Italian visited his former club and sat in the directors’ box.
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It ended in a 2-0 home defeat to Norwich City, who claimed the victory through goals from Anis Ben Slimane and Ali Ahmed. Maresca, who was likely in the area to catch up with former friends and colleagues, watched proceedings unfold from the directors’ box.
However, according to eSPORTY, Rowett was left irritated by the fact Maresca was permitted to watch the match alongside the directors. Prior to Rowett’s appointment, there had been fleeting speculation the Italian could return to the King Power Stadium, though this never appeared to be a genuine possibility.
Nevertheless, it is understood permitting Maresca to watch the match from the highly prominent and public directors’ box was felt to send entirely the wrong message.
Rowett’s tenure has barely improved from that point, as the club subsequently had six points deducted for breaching financial regulations while competing in the Premier League.
Leicester’s relegation was confirmed on Tuesday evening when they drew 2-2 at home to play-off chasing Hull City, nearly 10 years after Chelsea’s 2-2 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur won the Foxes the Premier League title. It is expected Rowett will go at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Maresca is yet to return to football management. Three months after his departure from Stamford Bridge, the Italian dropped a hint a return to management was on the cards by uploading a series of pictures of him and his family, with the fourth image being his workspace, which had several football books and stationery.
Leicester are not the only one of his former clubs who are struggling. Rosenior’s role as head coach of Chelsea is believed to be under threat, after the Blues’ chastening 3-0 away loss to Brighton left them in seventh.
Results elsewhere could even drop the west Londoners into the bottom half by the time they face Nottingham Forest on Monday May 4.
Football London understands Chelsea bosses are holding crisis talks about the current poor situation at Stamford Bridge.
The defeat to Brighton was the first time since 1912 that Chelsea have gone five matches without scoring a single goal. The travelling Blues supporters at Brighton also turned on the 41-year-old, chanting ‘F*** off Rosenior’ after the Seagulls scored their second goal.
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