Given Chelsea supporters are pining for the old days, perhaps they can cheer themselves up by remembering glorious runs from some of the club’s previous interim managers, although whether Calum McFarlane is capable of emulating the likes of Guus Hiddink, Roberto Di Matteo and Rafael Benítez looks like a long shot as another damaging week for the BlueCo project draws to a close.

Is this inexperienced young coach the man for a salvage operation? Fans will take some convincing after watching Chelsea’s players not so much throw in the towel as not even bother to pick it up at all during Tuesday’s defeat to Brighton, which saw off Liam Rosenior. Those heading to Wembley for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds will hope for a response but do not be surprised if they turn mutinous again.

McFarlane has inherited a mess. Chelsea have just sacked their second manager of the season. They have lost five league games in a row without scoring for the first time since 1912, and the fix is not a feelgood big name but someone who does not yet hold his Uefa Pro Licence. There was no call for John Terry, Chelsea’s owners again minded to let the club’s former captain comment from afar. Instead, they went with McFarlane, who took over as interim for two games when Enzo Maresca walked away on New Year’s Day. He steps in after Rosenior paid the price for his inability to earn the trust of the dressing room.

The potential problem is that the 40-year-old McFarlane’s profile has changed since he stepped up from the academy after Maresca’s departure. McFarlane was part of Rosenior’s backroom staff, so he shares culpability for the poor run. Why should it be any different? For Chelsea, part of the thinking will be that the players were so opposed to Rosenior that change was unavoidable. There is hope in McFarlane displaying the same tactical chops he showed when overseeing a deserved 1-1 draw away to Manchester City in early January. The counter is that Chelsea had Marc Cucurella sent off and lost 2-1 to Fulham under his watch three days later.

McFarlane is liked by the players but his experience within senior football is minimal. He started coaching after giving up on becoming a player. He worked at grassroots level, coaching at Kinetic Academy, a football and education charity based in London. McFarlane progressed to Manchester City’s and Southampton’s academies. There is a connection with Joe Shields, Chelsea’s director of recruitment and talent. McFarlane joined Chelsea last year, taking over as their under-21s manager; it would be quite the story if he can guide them to the final. He has never managed at Wembley.

Yet Chelsea fans are not feeling the romance. McFarlane does not represent a break with the immediate past. He was in the away dugout at the Amex Stadium, watching as Brighton ran rings around a demotivated Chelsea. Rosenior ripped into his players in his final press conference, hammering their lack of application. McFarlane played the straightest of bats when he met the media on Friday, though. He refused to get into whether the players had stopped trying for Rosenior. He has not held a clear-the-air meeting with them. He refused to elaborate on what had gone wrong for his old boss. “It’s not my place to say,” he said. “What’s gone on in the past doesn’t need to be spoken about”. It does, though. A £1bn team has just buried a manager and slid away from the Champions League spots. The lack of leadership and character has been exposed. Some senior players have been a disgrace. Younger players have floundered.

Thrust into the spotlight and asked to rescue Chelsea’s hopes of European football, McFarlane is admittedly in an awkward position. How does a novice transmit authority? Perhaps others should have spoken up. Not one player posted a farewell message to Rosenior on social media. Enzo Fernández and Cucurella had plenty to say about Chelsea’s struggles last month but have been silent this week. They should have apologised to fans who paid to go to Brighton. The lack of accountability is something to address this summer.

McFarlane just wants to focus on the present. Back to those interims. Hiddink, a European Cup winner as a manager with PSV Eindhoven, won the FA Cup in 2009; Di Matteo, a Chelsea man, won the FA Cup and Champions League in 2012; Benítez, one of the best managers in the world in his prime, won the Europa League and finished third in 2013. But that was the Roman Abramovich era. There was a culture of winning and those managers had Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard. This is a different Chelsea.

On paper McFarlane is not qualified for the task in hand. The only way to silence the doubters is to tap into the defiance of old.