Ted Lasso season 4 finale sets up Roy’s Richmond replacement, and it’s a huge season 5 clue

*Warning: Spoilers ahead for the Ted Lasso season 4 finale*

Roy makes a huge decision in the Ted Lasso season 4 finale, accepting the offer to leave AFC Richmond and become the new head coach of Chelsea. But his departure leaves behind one pretty major question: who’s going to replace him?

Season 4 episode 10, ‘Being Alive’, sees Richmond dealing with the loss of Mae (Annette Badland) while preparing for the Lady Greyhounds’ final game of the season. There are also plenty of changes happening behind the scenes, including one that could completely shake up the men’s team going forward.

Earlier in the episode, Roy (Brett Goldstein) reveals he’s been offered the head coach job at Chelsea, the club where he spent much of his playing career.

It’s not an easy decision. Roy has finally found his feet as Richmond manager and is expecting a baby with Keeley (Juno Temple), but he eventually decides he can’t let fear stop him from taking the opportunity.

Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is understandably gutted to lose him, but Mae’s death has also given her a new perspective on her own life. She realises she wants to make the most of it rather than constantly worrying about what might go wrong.

“So what are you waiting for?” she asks herself, which leads to her proposing to Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn). Cute. 

But this might also explain why she’s more willing to embrace another huge change at Richmond. Just as Rebecca is coming to terms with losing Roy, someone very familiar turns up in her office…

Who will replace Roy as Richmond manager?

Ted Lasso doesn’t actually reveal Roy’s replacement, but the season 4 finale drops a massive clue that Ted himself could be about to take the job.

Ted (Jason Sudeikis) has spent this season managing AFC Richmond’s women’s team after returning to England with Henry (Grant Feely) and Michelle (Andrea Anders). 

By the end of the finale, Alice (Tanya Reynolds) is promoted to manager of the Lady Greyhounds, while Ted and Beard (Brendan Hunt) step down to become her assistant managers.

This leaves Ted with more room to make another move, and this becomes even more evident when he shows up to Rebecca’s office with his famous biscuits. After finishing talking about her newfound determination to embrace life, Ted explains that he’s hoping they can have a chat about the “newly opened manager position”.

Before she’s made a decision, the scene cuts away. 

So no, the Apple TV show hasn’t officially confirmed that Ted will replace Roy as manager of AFC Richmond’s men’s team. We don’t even hear him explicitly say he is the one who wants the job, let alone Rebecca offering it to him. 

And there are other possibilities. Nate (Nick Mohammed) would be an obvious candidate given his history with Richmond and his stint as West Ham manager. But his cameo in the season 4 finale reveals he’s doing pretty well for himself these days as a coach for the Polish national team.

Richmond could also bring in someone completely new, particularly after season 4 introduced a whole group of new characters for the women’s team. For now though, Ted is the only person in the finale who shows an interest in discussing Roy’s position.

The good news is that this could be setting up a major full circle moment for season 5: bringing Ted Lasso back as the manager of AFC Richmond’s men’s team.

Will there be a Ted Lasso season 5?

The bad news is Apple TV hasn’t officially renewed Ted Lasso for season 5 just yet, so we’ll have to wait before finding out whether Ted really does take Roy’s job. But there are plenty of reasons to suggest the season 4 finale might not be the end. 

Ahead of season 4, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Sudeikis sees this new chapter of Ted Lasso as another three-season arc, following the women’s team in a similar way to how the original three seasons followed the men’s team. 

“If all goes according to plan, the Lasso team will be back in the writers room in late August mapping out a not-yet-ordered season five,” the report said. This would technically mean it could run through to season 6, but as said, nothing’s set in stone at the time of writing.

Thankfully, it sounds like the bosses are hopeful too, with Apple TV’s executive Matt Cherniss telling Deadline in July, “Jason’s still hard at work on season 4, and I know he’s looking to jump into the next season soon, but to my knowledge, I don’t think we’ve gotten started on it yet.”

And the cast certainly haven’t been talking about season 4 episode 10 like it’s goodbye forever. Tanya Reynolds and Abbie Hern, who play Alice and Gemma, recently teased that the ending actually feels more like the start of something new.

Speaking to Decider, Hern said, “Watching it, to me, weirdly felt like the beginning of an ending, more so than the beginning of this season, it feels like a beginning. I can’t say anything more than that.”

When asked about the potential three-season arc, Reynolds teased, “We have no idea. There’s obviously so much potential, so many possibilities.” Although she did say what she’d like to see for her character if season 5 goes ahead: “We’d be so interested in a flashback to our Arsenal days.”

Obviously, this isn’t confirmation that season 5 is happening. But with the three-season plan, open-ended storylines and incredible viewing figures for season 4, here’s hoping it’s only a matter of time before we find out.

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Featured image credit: Apple TV