Calum McFarlane’s stint as Chelsea’s interim head coach ended with a defeat against Fulham as disciplinary issues again came to the fore.

After gaining a draw against Manchester City in his first game since taking over following Enzo Maresca’s sacking, McFarlane ended his short tenure with the incoming Liam Rosenior watching on at Craven Cottage as goals from Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez secured the win for Fulham.

One thing Rosenior will be hoping to eradicate is the number of yellow and red cards picked up by his new side as Marc Cucurella’s early dismissal — their fifth in the Premier League this season — meant they had to play the majority of the game with 10 men. A first Premier League goal for Liam Delap was not enough to avoid defeat.

And in the stands, there was chanting against the owners from the away end as supporters made their feelings clear about BlueCo, the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital consortium that bought the club in 2022.

What was Cucurella thinking?

Chelsea, by the standards of earlier in the season, were well overdue a red card — and Cucurella made Peter Bankes’ decision easy. Chelsea have been vulnerable to swift, direct attacks multiple times this campaign and this time it was Harry Wilson who charged forward, onside as he was in his own half, onto Bernd Leno’s goal kick.

Cucurella could not get the right side of Wilson and, by the time the Fulham forward was about to enter the penalty area, had clear hold of his arm and was dragging him back.

The positive was that he committed the foul outside the area, but it was a straightforward decision for Bankes.

What followed was even more worrying from a disciplinary perspective. As a VAR check went on to confirm the foul had been outside the area, protests earned yellow cards for Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer and Tosin Adarabioyo. It left all three — particularly Fernandez and Tosin — walking a tightrope for the remainder of the game.

Cucurella will miss Chelsea’s trip to Charlton on Saturday, for which he might well have been rested anyway. More concerning than the implications of the red card for this week is what the incident — and how Chelsea’s squad responded — show about their continued discipline problems, which looked to have settled down.

What was the level of fan unrest?

What will also have been apparent to Rosenior is how quickly things can turn hostile.

A ‘BlueCo Out’ flag was being held up in the away end before kick-off, but the real audible disquiet from Chelsea’s fans came in the second half. With their team trailing 1-0, the away end was consistently ringing with anti-ownership chants, and that continued after Liam Delap’s equaliser.

“We don’t care about Clearlake, they don’t care about us, all we care about is Chelsea FC” and some choice directions for co-owner Behdad Eghbali, who was watching alongside Rosenior in the stands, were among those chants.

Previous owner Roman Abramovich’s name was also sung.

It comes against the backdrop of rumblings of dissatisfaction from supporters with the club hierarchy. A survey from the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust revealed yesterday that over 90 per cent of respondents did not have confidence in “the ownership group’s football-related decision-making”, while more than 80 per cent were not confident that the club is being run in a way that will deliver “sustained success over the next three to five years”.

The away end felt markedly more hostile towards the ownership than at Manchester City, the first game after Maresca parted company with the club. That sentiment only increases pressure on Rosenior to turn results around to stymie any negative feelings blossoming in Chelsea’s fanbase.

Where does this leave Chelsea?

Chelsea may have parted ways with Maresca on New Year’s Day, but many of the same issues persist for a side that look out of sorts and low on confidence.

As well as a poor disciplinary record, the fact the red card came from a long punt down the middle of the pitch from Fulham goalkeeper was alarming — and there was a carbon copy of the same move 59 minutes into the match.

That vulnerability against an opposition side playing long and direct was also a problem for Chelsea against Bournemouth on December 30 — with Andoni Iraola’s side having 14 shots in the first half of that game.

There were some (small) glimmers of optimism for Rosenior, who was watching on from the stands next to co-owner Behdad Eghbali. Chelsea didn’t capitulate after going down to 10 men so early in the match, while Delap finally scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea.

However, the reality is that they are on a miserable run of form, with just one win now in their last nine Premier League matches.

The fans, understandably, are growing restless. To win over the Chelsea faithful, Rosenior will need results, and quickly.

What did Calum McFarlane say?

When asked about Chelsea’s red cards this season, interim coach McFarlane said in his post-match press conference: “There’s been a lot made of the red cards this season. I don’t think this red card is ill-disciplined.

“This happens in football, you get caught 1v1 and Marc’s one of the best defenders in the world. So he would defend that situation nine times out of ten. Harry Wilson’s clever and he shows quality. So we got caught from a football and structural standpoint.

“The three yellow cards directly after is something we’ll have to look at, but I would argue that we don’t want that to happen, obviously. I would then argue that they show discipline to not get another yellow card in a tough game with ten men. It’s definitely something we have to look at. I’m not shying away from that.

On Rosenior’s role in preparing for the game, McFarlane said: “Liam came in yesterday, probably an hour before we were training.

“He spoke to the players about how excited he is to be in the club, his values, what he wants to bring to the team, what the objectives are.

“He then stepped away, he watched training. I caught up with Liam after training to go through. He’d seen the game plan.

“He’s given us free rein to pick the team, to decide the tactics. We’re pretty aligned in how we think about football anyway, so if it was completely the other way, maybe it’s different. But he’s been really, really respectful and trusting, and let us get on with this job before he starts with the group tomorrow.”