Chelsea interim head coach Frank Lampard has delivered his verdict on the changing landscape in football management with a poignant claim about his own sacking experiences. The temporary boss is yet to oversee a victory back at the Blues after being sacked in the first spell in 2019 with his current tenure guaranteed to reach a conclusion at the end of the 2023/24 season.
From four games in charge, Lampard his seen his side beaten by Wolves and Brighton in the Premier League and twice by Real Madrid in a Champions League quarter-final tie. Up next for the Blues is a London derby against Brentford at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea will have to win the game without three key stars including Reece James.
"Reece James is unavailable, probably for the season," Lampard revealed when asked about injury news. "Mason Mount is the same. Potential for the last game of the season but probably not. That's obviously disappointing for us. Kai still struggling a little bit with his knee, won't be available for tomorrow but the good news is he should be training at the end of the week."
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Those three players being absent will result in guaranteed changes for the game against the Bees with Trevoh Chalobah as the possible beneficiary of James' injury. Meanwhile, in attack, Chelsea will have to deploy a false 9 with Joao Felix as the likely occupant. Mount missing also opens up a spot on the bench which Noni Madueke will certainly have his eye on.
With many considering Chelsea's season as redundant following their European elimination, Lampard has been urged to give opportunities to the players who will be at the club next season. Unfortunately for the 44-year-old, he will not be, with Mauricio Pochettino as the favourite to permanently take over.
The former Tottenham boss would technically become manager number five of the Todd Boehly era if he is appointed. In less than one year that is a fair few head coaches, temporary or not, to have instilled and Lampard has now explained his thoughts on how management has changed in recent years along with a major claim about his own sackings.
“The landscape has changed and, this is generally, we’ve lost maybe sight of alignment sometimes, maybe expectation sometimes, or reasonable expectation," he replied when asked if he'd been put off management by the madness surrounding it. "Some of it has been fast-tracked with social media and this open world - like politics, you either hate something or you love it, you’re not allowed to be somewhere in between and it feeds into football.
He continued: "You’re winning games, ok we love you, but if not, ok we hate you and there’s pressure. There are a lot of things that link into that. In terms of me, you say I've been sacked twice and I was fortunate enough to have a career where I never had to have that feeling too much. I got released by Chelsea but I was 34, 35.
"Pretty much every manager will get let go at some point and once it’s happened once or twice, it feels a little bit softer than the first time. That’s a reality and it will only feel that bit softer if you give everything you can in the circumstances you’ve got. It’s making sure you get the balance right of what’s a reasonable expectation and what isn't and that’s not just talking about Chelsea.”
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