As someone who has sat in exactly the position Frank Lampard now finds himself in, a former Chelsea coach has warned that unless he keeps winning, the young manager could quickly find himself out on his ear.
Antonio Conte’s time at Stamford Bridge came to an ignominious end, and whilst he thinks that Lampard is doing a great job, he’s under no illusions as to the pressure that the former England midfielder will be under to deliver positive results.
“I think he is doing a great job,” Conte told Sky Sports’ The Football Show, and cited by the Daily Express. “His second experience after Derby County, to be a coach of a top team is not easy.
“He has the skills, the ability, to become one of the best managers in the world. He has to continue to work in this way and I wish him the best for the future.
“[…] When you are in a top club the demand is very high. You must win if you want to keep your job.”
Currently on 48 points and in the Champions League positions, Lampard is on track in his first season back at the club he served so well as a player, and it might even be said that he’s exceeded expectations.
Those same expectations will now be raised again, and therein lies the problem for a manager who will now have to work within the constraints of the new financial situation post-coronavirus.
Though he’s known to love using young, hungry players, whether they’ll be enough to see him through a potential Champions League campaign as well as the Premier League in 2020/21 is a big ask.