By Samuel A. April 29, 2023
Frank Lampard will see out the season as Chelsea manager, sources told Blacks Sports Live. The club appointed Lampard interim manager until the summer on April 6, and that will remain the case despite their continued poor form.
Chelsea were beaten at home 2-0 by West London rivals Brentford on Wednesday night, making it five defeats in five for Lampard. The club’s process for a new permanent manager remains ongoing – with Mauricio Pochettino the current frontrunner – and the intention is for him to take over at the end of the season. It was reported earlier this week that a decision and an announcement on the next boss is anticipated within the next two weeks.
Chelsea were booed off by disgruntled home supporters at halftime against Brentford, while many fans chose to display their dissatisfaction further by departing Stamford Bridge early. The numbers surrounding Chelsea’s decline are alarming; they have not won in any competition or on any ground since beating Leicester at the King Power on March 11, when Graham Potter was still in charge. Since then, Bruno Saltor and Lampard have between them overseen a winless run that now stands at eight games.
“Surely, the fans are going to be worried,” said Lampard after the latest defeat to Brentford. “If you’re a Chelsea fan, you’ve been used to 20 years of success, you’re used to it and you want it more. I’ve got no problem with fans booing.”
It’s quite damning for Lampard, because the statistics are damning and nothing to be hopeful about. It’s not just the fact that since returning to Chelsea, he’s lost all five games that he’s been in charge of. During his spell at Everton, he lost nine of the last ten Premier League games, before getting sacked. In fact, since he took charge at Everton in 2022, no manager in the Premier League has lost more games than Lampard.
Lampard was an exceptional footballer and he comes from great footballing stock. This is what I believe fast tracked his managerial career – there’s no real substance behind it.
In terms of Chelsea themselves, their lowest ever points total in the Premier League is 50. Currently on 39 and when you look at the fixtures they’ve got coming up, it is not looking good for them.
Chelsea’s season is over. If there was any doubt, it was cleared on Wednesday night, where Brentford produced a fine away display to secure back-to-back wins at Stamford Bridge. The defeat was Lampard’s fifth successive since returning to the club as interim manager. Earlier this month, he had seen his Chelsea side play well for 60 minutes against Real Madrid, but ultimately left lamenting the same old shortcomings, which prompted Didier Drogba to say: “I don’t recognise my club anymore”. This poor run has led to question marks over whether Lampard was wise in jumping at this opportunity to return to management, and whether his reputation within the game as a manager is being further damaged with each passing defeat.
