Frank Lampard: The End of a Fairytale

Frank Lampard: The End of a Fairytale

On Monday 25th January, Frank Lampard was given his marching orders as Head Coach of Chelsea Football Club. The news came as a surprise for the footballing community, despite only salvaging two wins in his previous eight Premier League fixtures. With six months remaining on his contract, many pundits expected him to remain in charge until the rest of the season. However, the owner, Roman Abramovich, had evidently lost his patience and decided to sack him in the same unmerciful fashion as his predecessors. Since his financial takeover in June 2003, Roman Abramovich has built himself a reputation for brutish boardroom politics with little tolerance for poor results. Roman has personally overseen the dismissal of eleven managers during this period. But when Frank Lampard returned to the touchline of Stamford Bridge in July 2019, it seemed to mark the dawn of a new age insofar as the functioning of the club. Roman appeared as though he had abandoned his faith in the revolving door system and was now willing to build a sustainable project. Finally, the days of sacking managers before they have even unpacked their suitcases were officially over.

Unfortunately for Frank Lampard, old habits die hard when you are the owner of a football club. They apparently die even harder when you fork out £200 million in the summer transfer window. The new signings have struggled to settle down in the Premier League, particularly Kai Havertz and Timo Werner. There was much promise of the German frontmen when they first arrived in England, with talks of them being the catalyst for future silverware, but they both seemingly left their shooting boots at the baggage claim of Heathrow Airport. Timo Werner has been a shadow of the player we saw at RB Leipzig, managing only four goals in twenty PL appearances. While Kai Havertz has received more yellow cards than he has scored goals in a Chelsea shirt. It is easy to scapegoat the new pair for Chelsea’s recent decline, but ultimately the responsibility always falls at the feet of the manager.

Nobody would have expected his departure last year, especially when Chelsea convincingly beat Leeds United to go top of the Premier League table on December 5th. There were even discussions about potentially competing for domestic glory once again, but all those high-minded ambitions were set aside following defeats to Everton, Wolves and Arsenal. In the space of five games, Lampard’s hopes of silverware were disappearing beyond the horizon. Roman Abramovich had supposedly seen enough when Lampard’s men got slaughtered at the King Power Stadium. Frank Lampard’s unceremonious dismissal has caused outrage among the Chelsea faithful, most of whom were happy to give him time in order to improve their poor form. However, patience is not something usually associated with the directors of Chelsea FC. Even the status of a club legend did not make Lampard exempt from the savagery of the boardroom. He was sacked with indecent haste considering he guided them to a place in the Champions League last season despite a transfer embargo. This is not uncharacteristic of Roman Abramovich. After all, we are talking about the same man who sacked Carlo Ancelotti in the tunnel of Goodison Park, notwithstanding the fact that he won a domestic double in his debut season.

I can’t help but think that Frank Lampard has a promising managerial career ahead of him. Although his time at Chelsea did not end in the manner he would have liked, he successfully guided the club through a transfer ban, placing his trust in the academy prospects. He brought through the likes of Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Billy Gilmour into the first team, giving them a chance to shine on the big stage. Who knows what is next for Frank Lampard? All I can say for certain is that Chelsea supporters wish him the best of luck.