Often seen as a bit of a wheeler-dealer in football circles, there’s little doubt that Harry Redknapp knows how to manage a professional football team.
A veteran of over 1,000 games, he’s well qualified to speak on what it is that makes a top-level manager, and he’s clearly unhappy at the way his nephew, Frank Lampard, has been treated by Chelsea.
MORE: Chelsea legend has ‘no complaints’ over Lampard sacking
“It’s very disappointing to hear the news this morning,” Redknapp said on talkSPORT radio, cited by talkSPORT.
“On the back of a good result, beating Luton in the FA Cup, I thought they’d give him a bit of time.
“I thought [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer was sure to go, no way he was going to survive, but Manchester United gave him a bit of time and suddenly they have a little run and turn it around.
“Everybody goes through bad spells; Jurgen Klopp is going through one now at Liverpool, Mikel Arteta is going through one at Arsenal as well.
“People need time. Losing four or five games doesn’t suddenly make you a bad manager! Surely you’ve got to have more faith in people rather than giving them that knee-jerk reaction.”
Thomas Tuchel is the man set to replace Frank Lampard at Chelsea, in a German-focused plan that seems to have been devised to get Timo Werner and Kai Havertz on track… pic.twitter.com/gTgYyUxdkC
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) January 25, 2021
It’s perhaps somewhat inevitable that Redknapp would come out in defence of someone with an obvious family connection.
Lampard knew what he was getting himself into when he was offered the job, so the fact that he was ousted as soon as results took a turn for the worst should’ve been no surprise whatsoever.
Redknapp can whine all he likes about Chelsea’s former midfielder not being given time, but far better managers than he have come and gone without a second thought from Roman Abramovich.
Lampard will learn from his experience of course, and we may well see him back at the Bridge in due course.
Right club, wrong time.
Oga Harry, futbol management shouldn’t be a family affair, £220m na beans ?