It feels like we’ve reached that point where Frank Lampard’s sacking is inevitable, but it’s worth noting that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mikel Arteta found themselves in a similar situation earlier in the season and they were allowed time to turn things round.
The difference with Lampard is he’s working for a boss in Roman Abramovich who is notorious for sacking managers once he’s had enough, while he’s also spent a lot of money on this squad and he’s not getting the best out of them.
The fear for Chelsea fans has to be Lampard’s lack of experience in management and the possibility that the players could simply decide to down tools and wait for the new manager to take over, so a recent video segment from The Athletic’s David Ornstein doesn’t look great for Lampard’s future.
He alludes to problems in the changing room due to the sheer size of the squad and it also sounds like the Chelsea board are not happy with his performance, but there’s a belief that he could still get more time.
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There are two major takeaways from this that should worry those who back Lampard. Firstly Ornstein repeats a claim that “Under normal circumstances Frank Lampard simply wouldn’t have for the job” – essentially Chelsea struggled to find a new manager due to their transfer ban and Lampard’s willingness to play the youngsters was enough to land him the role.
This will sound harsh on Lampard but we see it with every club that circumstances change and it’s very possible that he was the right man when he took over, but he simply isn’t now.
He looked like a good appointment to begin with because he allowed the players to play without pressure and the youngsters would be more willing to buy into his methods and play with some freedom.
The problem now is that he’s faced with a team of expensive stars who expect success and strong management, so Lampard could be out of his depth trying to manage those characters at this point in his career, while the club expect success rather than seeing Champions League football as an unexpected bonus like it was in his first season.
The second problem from Ornstein’s report is he claims that Chelsea are now actively looking for his replacement so they have a plan if he has to be sacked, and that suggests they are simply trying to find their man before waiting on the perfect excuse to let him go.