Frank Lampard, Emma Hayes and a tale of two Chelseas
theguardian.comWhen Frank Lampard was appointed as Chelsea interim manager for the remainder of the season following Graham Potter’s dismissal in early April, he seemed bullish about his chances of making a success of the job. “I am confident in myself,” he rabble-roused. “I have a good understanding of the squad.
I’ll do my utmost in this period coming up to give [the fans] what they want with my own hard work.” And while this introductory press conference would have created quite the palaver had he announced: “I intend to mastermind defeat in our next six games, go on a two-match unbeaten run and then lose another two before our last home game of the season,” it was still quite big talk from a man who was sacked after overseeing just four wins in 23 games this season while in charge of Everton.
The good news for Chelsea fans is that once Sunday’s home defeat at the hands of Newcastle is over, their shambles of a men’s season will end with it.
And having not quite done enough to secure himself the gig on a full-time basis (an ambition he coyly insisted he wasn’t considering early in his tenure), Lampard will be sent on his way and replaced with somebody – almost certainly Mauricio Pochettino – who knows what they are doing and might be able to prune and nurture the club’s bloated squad of first-team underachievers into something resembling a vaguely competent football team.
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