Premier League side Chelsea, on Monday, sacked club icon and manager Frank Lampard after 18 months in charge of the club.
Lampard, who took charge of Chelsea in a three-year contract in July 2019, leaves the team with just eight wins in 19 Premier League games as Chelsea sit ninth in the Premier League table. His final game in charge was Chelsea's 3-1 win over Luton Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
The 42-year-old former midfielder initially did a great job in his first season as he guided the Blues to a fourth-place finish in the league, but after spending more than £200m in the summer, Chelsea currently sit 11 points behind leaders Manchester United. Since their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool early in the season, Lampard took Chelsea on a 17-game unbeaten run, but back-to-back defeats to Everton, Wolves, followed by Arsenal, Manchester City and Leicester eventually turned out to be the final roll of the dice.
"We are grateful to Frank for what he has achieved in his time as Head Coach of the Club. However, recent results and performances have not met the Club’s expectations, leaving the Club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement," read a statement from Chelsea.
"There can never be a good time to part ways with a club legend such as Frank, but after lengthy deliberation and consideration it was decided a change is needed now to give the Club time to improve performances and results this season."
Lampard did not sign any player in his first season with the club, but spent £45m on Ben Chilwell, £47.6m on Timo Werner and a whopping £71m on Kai Havertz as Chelsea took their budget over £200m, eclipsing their previous record of £186m they spent ahead of the 2017-18 season.
The former midfielder leaves the club with a win percentage of 52.4, but his points-per-game average remains 1.67; the lowest amongst any permanent Chelsea manager.
Thomas Tuchel to take over
Reports have suggested that Chelsea have already lined-up a replacement in former Borussia Dortmund and PSG boss Thomas Tuchel. The club is expected to make an announcement soon after having informed the players over text messages. They were told not to come to their planned training session at Cobham on Monday.
It is said that Chelsea had first checked the availability of RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann before striking a deal with Tuchel, who was sacked by Paris Saint-Germain in December 2020. The club also approached Ralf Rangnick to take up the position on a temporary basis, but the former Leipzig boss ruled himself out of contention. As per ESPN, Tuchel took the opinion of another Premier League club last weekend to know more about Chelsea's blueprint before signing a deal.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Clive Rose
