Chelsea bade farewell to Frank Lampard as Coach on Monday, January 25, 2021, 18 months after being appointed as manager, with former Paris St-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel billed to replace him, but before we get to how all that happened, let’s backtrack a little…
Having spent 13 years at Chelsea as a player between 2001 to 2014 when he hung his boots, Lampard returned to Stamford Bridge in July 2019 when he was appointed as a coach on a three-year contract for the sacked Maurizio Sarri.
Lampard became the 10th full-time manager appointed by Abramovich since the billionaire bought the Club in 2003.
Of course, his appointment as Gaffer sat felt like a dream come true, but why not? Which Club wouldn’t love to see her highest goal scorer come back to as a coach?
Lampard isn’t just another Chelsea player; he is a Club Legend. Frank is Chelsea’s record scorer, with 211 goals for the Club between 2001 and 2014.
During his 13 seasons as a player at Stamford Bridge, he made 648 appearances and won 11 major trophies – including four Premier League titles and the 2012 Champions League.
The fans were giddy, Lampard as Chelsea coach, a pair made in heaven. I mean, what could go wrong?
As some beautiful stories start, this one had a fairytale beginning as the England international led Chelsea to a fourth-place finish, as the North London side secured a Champions League spot and even got to the FA CUP final where they lost to City rivals, Arsenal, all in his first season, all without signing any player due to a transfer ban placed on the Club.
As a reward for the excellent work put in last season, the Club dolled out £200m for him to purchase players ahead of the new season, and he spent it on seven significant signings the previous summer, including £45m on Leicester’s Ben Chilwell and £71m on midfielder Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen.
Most Chelsea has spent in one summer, eclipsing the £186m they invested at the start of the 2017-18 season.
To be Frank, Lampard even started on a smooth scale; everything was going “well” until it wasn’t.
Having finished with 66 points last season after 20 wins and 12 defeats, Chelsea has lost six times in their opening 19 league games this season.
The Blues have suffered five defeats in their past eight league games, as many as they had in their previous 23, and have won once in their past five league matches.
Chelsea’s poor run in form sees them at ninth on the premier league table after last week’s defeat at Leicester City.
The irony of it all, however, is that Super Frankie was sacked a day Chelsea defeated Luton 3-1 in their FA Cup fourth-round game.
Frank Lampard, whose first managerial job was at Derby, wherein one season in charge, he took them to the Championship play-off final, lost to Aston Villa, won 28 of his 57 Premier League games while in charge of Chelsea.
The Club wished they could keep their legend for the long run as a coach, or so it seems, but in the long run, results weren’t forthcoming, and Roman Abramovich isn’t the most patient man out there.
Many questions are left unanswered concerning Lampard’s sackbut with him gone; the most prominent concerns now are, will Tuchel Succeed? Too early to ask, maybe
