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Chelsea manager, back at Hull in the Cup on Friday, made a strong impression on Humberside, as ex-colleagues explain “That’s the best message I’ve received, ” Liam Rosenior wrote, accompanied by laughing emojis, in response to one of the many congratulation posts sent after his surprise appointment as the Chelsea head coach. His former Hull teammate James Chester had wickedly told him: “After my time with you at Derby I never thought you’d have been Chelsea manager, ” alongside a photograph of Chester in the pub with his fellow former Tigers Robbie Brady and Paul Mc Shane, raising a glass to Rosenior. It was a sign of the close bonds Rosenior built at Hull as a player and head coach. He returns as a Champions League head coach on Friday in the FA Cup, looking to avoid an upset against a team aiming to make it a more regular rivalry. Rosenior spent seven seasons on Humberside, five as a player and two in the dugout, which were crucial for his development. “He really loved the tactical side of football and how teams played in possession and how different teams played different formations, ” Chester says, thinking back to Rosenior as a Hull player. “Generally on a bus to an away game we’d be messing around playing Mario Kart and Liam would be sat watching games from Barcelona, Real Madrid and other big clubs on his laptop and studying how they played and things like that. That’s the first time I’d ever come across that. ” Rosenior made 161 appearances for Hull, 119 alongside Chester. The team were evolving during the pair’s time there, finishing 11th and eighth before being promoted to the Premier League in 2013 as runners-up under Steve Bruce, taking Rosenior back to the division he inhabited with Fulham and Reading, and reaching the 2014 FA Cup final and qualifying for Europe. He was part of the best of times at Hull. “He was just very positive with the mannerisms and how he was as a person, ” Chester says. “He was always trying to build people up and give them confidence in themselves, just with the way he was himself. But how he would also communicate to himself and the other lads, he was just very positive in how he was as a person and that would rub off on to you in the way you played. ” When Rosenior was promoted to interim head coach at League One Derby in June 2022, one of the first calls he made was to Chester, whom he signed from Stoke on a one-year contract. Chester knew he was in safe hands, despite it being Rosenior’s first senior role. “He would say: ‘I always noticed this, we can sort it out now, ’” Chester says of time on the training ground. “He was always telling you what a good player he thought you were and he would just fill you with that confidence that he had the trust in you. ” Within months, a then 38-year-old Rosenior was heading back to Hull to become head coach, joining a club one point and place above the Championship relegation zone. He had been away for seven years but knew the potential and took the job after Hull’s talks with their first choice, Pedro Martins, fell through. Rosenior easily kept Hull up, leading them to 15th, and built on that, finishing seventh the following season. “He steadied the ship, made us more solid defensively and from there was trying to implement the foundation, ” the defender Cyrus Christie says. “I thought he was a very good coach, very good in the way he wanted to play. It was very detailed, so we knew it down to a tee. Even with plan A, plan B, plan C, we made sure that the details were always there. He held a lot of meetings to make sure that we understood. ” Rosenior did not want anyone cut adrift, explaining to those left out how important they were, as he built team spirit. “We watched a lot of [Roberto] De Zerbi, while he was at Brighton, and Man City, ” Christie says. “He would show us different tactical elements from other teams and managers that he liked. He’s the first manager I’ve had that actually said he wanted to be a coach more than he did a footballer. ” Giving players responsibilities was part of Rosenior’s strategy. His impact was immediate, Hull losing only one of his first nine league games. The next season Rosenior signed the talented youngsters Liam Delap, Tyler Morton and Fábio Carvalho on loan and finished three points and one place below the playoffs. “I took a pre-match meeting before one of the games and then he slowly started doing it for some others, ” Christie says. “We would speak a lot but he always wanted other lads to speak up and lads to feel comfortable in doing that role. “Some people obviously didn’t like doing it, which is natural, but at some point in their career they’re probably going to have to do it. It was very different but I can see the thinking behind it. It puts people in an uncomfortable position but it also helps you to grow and learn different things. ” Hull sit fourth in the Championship under Sergej Jakirovic, aiming to relive the years Rosenior enjoyed in the Premier League, where playing Chelsea was the norm. The Tigers have won once against Friday’s opponents in 35 attempts since a victory in March 1925. “My toughest day was playing at Chelsea at home in the Premier League and I was right of a back three and Eden Hazard was playing off the left, ” Chester says. “He was giving me an absolute torrid 60 minutes and Steve Bruce was screaming at me and Liam was on the bench. I think Steve had decided he’d seen enough of my performance and I came off and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see Liam’s face. ” Rosenior was popular at Hull, appreciated for his hard work as a player and for bringing back hope as a coach after a downturn. Many think he was harshly treated when sacked by the owner, Acun Ilicali, less than two years ago but it inadvertently sent Rosenior upwards. The two will be happy to reunite, so they can thank one another for laying the foundations.