Frank Lampard is set to pay the price for Chelsea‘s poor recent results with the club expected to announce his departure at some point on Monday.
Chelsea’s players were told to not report for training until the afternoon, according to the Daily Telegraph who report that Lampard’s sacking is imminent.
Following a strong start to the Premier League campaign, Chelsea’s form has plummeted since December as they have lost five and only won two of their past eight league matches.
A dismal 2-0 defeat to Leicester City last week looks to have sealed Lampard’s fate and a 3-1 victory over Luton Town in the FA Cup on Sunday looks certain to be his last in charge.
Speaking after that victory, Lampard paid his thanks to the fans who have stuck by him: “One thing I know is that when I’m at the Bridge, the fans have shown me huge support as a player, and now as manager here as well. So I appreciate it very much.
“All I want to do is repay that with being successful at the club and working through a tough moment to bring a long-term success to the club.
“I keep saying recently there will be moments of pain, and moments that are difficult, because of the situation.
“And when you see the fans that are there to stick with you from now, and going forward, that’s an important thing for me.”
Loyalty from the fans does not appear to be matched in the boardroom, however, with owner Roman Abramovich now looking for a new manager.
Where did it go wrong for Lampard?
After leading Derby County to the Championship play-off final in his first season in management, Lampard returned to Chelsea in July 2019 on a three-year deal.
He enjoyed an impressive first season in charge, steering Chelsea into the top four and reaching the FA Cup final despite being unable to reinvest transfer funds into the squad following the departure of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid due to a transfer ban.
The 42-year-old was credited for giving first-team opportunities to a number of the club’s promising homegrown talents including Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Billy Gilmour.
Despite Covid-19 wreaking havoc on football’s finances, Roman Abramovich gave the green light to a £200m summer spree in the summer, with Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy and Thiago Silva all joining the club.
While Chilwell, Ziyech, Mendy and Silva have all made decent starts to their careers at Stamford Bridge, the poor performances of Havertz and Werner will have caused concern in Chelsea’s boardroom.
Tuchel favourite to replace Lampard
Sky in Germany have reported that Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked by PSG in December, is set to replace Lampard.
Follow i sport on Facebook for more Chelsea news, interviews and features
More on Chelsea
- The making of ‘Turbo Timo’ – the Chelsea star ‘almost impossible to stop’
- What Essien did next – from Chelsea star to budding coach at tiny Nordsjaelland
- Chelsea committed to youth – and then reverted to type one season later
- Chilwell is the Alonso upgrade Chelsea wanted – and needed
- The influx of world-class talent at clubs like Chelsea means the WSL really is Super
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3iML2LY
Post a Comment