Frank Lampard Sack Watch

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Unbelievable there are already sack watches. This guy got a top 4 finish with an average Chelsea squad full of green players. He deserves an undisputed full season of tranquility after pulling off that miracle.

Frank Lampard is set to be sacked, as @Matt_Law_DT reported today. Chelsea board ‘furious’ and ‘disappointed’ for weeks.  #CFC #Lampard

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 25, 2021

Relationship with Marina Granovskaia deteriorated
Players 'ignored' by Lampard
Cech involved in planning successor
Rangnick offered interim role but turned it down
Tuchel to come in #CFC

@SJohnsonSport @David_Ornstein @honigstein @liam_twomey @AdamCrafton_

— The Athletic UK (@TheAthleticUK) January 25, 2021

Lampard’s relationship with influential director Marina Granovskaia deteriorated.

Ralf Rangnick was offered interim job last week for four months but turned it down.

Calls were made in recent weeks to sound out Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann.

Leicester game was tipping point and morning after spent trying to finalise successor.

Lampard shook players hands and thanked them for efforts under him after Leicester match.

Petr Cech involved in talking to new stars’ agents as form dipped.

Some players complained about lack of tactical instruction and not being spoken to for months.

Desire to re-sign Declan Rice annoyed his bosses.

The dressing room felt manager showed no empathy and were hurt by his public criticism.

Lampard would have walked out had he been working for any club other than Chelsea.

Tensions behind the scenes really began to emerge during the January transfer window 12 months ago. Lampard asked for Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was considering leaving Emirates Stadium at that juncture, and Ajax’s attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech. Neither arrived that month.

It was at this juncture that Mauricio Pochettino, who had been fired by Tottenham in November 2019, and RB Leipzig coach Nagelsmann were being mentioned as a potential “plan B”.

Things were becoming more tense with Granovskaia and one of the biggest points of contention was the treatment of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. “They clashed over Kepa. Lampard put in a request for a replacement and was told he should try putting his arm around Kepa, to help build his confidence. Lampard was insistent though.”

Lampard wanted the club to sign West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and pushed for him again ahead of January. But some at the club had reservations about re-signing the player who was released from the academy as a teenager.

In December The Athletic were told: “He needs to stop pushing for Rice or he’ll lose his job. The hierarchy are very wary about the potential embarrassment of buying back an academy reject at huge expense.”

Of the six players to join, only Ben Chilwell was a Lampard target.

Plan was not only to acquire Rice, who Lampard felt could be converted into a top centre back as well as using him as a defensive midfielder, but also to buy James Tarkowski from Burnley. Defenders earmarked to go were Fikayo Tomori, Marcos Alonso, and Rudiger. There was even talk that Lampard was open to the idea of captain Cesar Azpilicueta departing.

After the Manchester City game, Roman became “very, very unhappy”. ( After the season relationship between Roman and Lampard was "strong."

Tuchel was reluctant to come midway through the season initially but was eventually persuaded, having almost taken the Stamford Bridge job before Antonio Conte a few years ago. He felt it was too good a job to turn down.

“The problem was, the manager didn’t talk to the players — well only the ones he liked."

One senior player told The Athletic that Lampard staying on for the rest of the season would have been a ‘catastrophe’, with the levels of tension in the dressing room to high to recover from and players comparing his criticism of performances to Jose Mourinho in his final days at the club.

By the Fulham game in early January, players were expecting Lampard to be sacked if they didn’t win.

Lampard warned everyone, including the hierarchy, that a title bid was unlikely in 2020-21, that the arrivals would require patience to settle into a new league and country.

Kaladin wrote:

Frank Lampard is set to be sacked, as @Matt_Law_DT reported today. Chelsea board ‘furious’ and ‘disappointed’ for weeks.  #CFC #Lampard

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 25, 2021

SACKED

Helmer wrote:Seems like Tuchel will take over from him. Did not see that coming at all.

Chelsea are going to have a difficult season. Changing managers mid season is a dangerous trajectory. It can go very very wrong and I do not understand why Tuchel is still regarded so highly or there are simply no managers left who are good enough to take over from Frank.

rincon wrote:How to not see it coming, he has Chelsea in midtable. 9th on the table with teams above them having even played less games. It is an outstandingly poor position for this Chelsea.

Coupled with not getting the best out of their big signings, he wasn't looking great.

Thimmy wrote:It still made no sense to sack him in the middle of the season when there’s no good alternative lined up, but I suppose Tuchel changed that.

rincon wrote:How to not see it coming, he has Chelsea in midtable. 9th on the table with teams above them having even played less games. It is an outstandingly poor position for this Chelsea.

Coupled with not getting the best out of their big signings, he wasn't looking great.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

rincon wrote:How to not see it coming, he has Chelsea in midtable. 9th on the table with teams above them having even played less games. It is an outstandingly poor position for this Chelsea.

Coupled with not getting the best out of their big signings, he wasn't looking great.

he's 5 points from 4tb, hardly something that can't be fixed with half the season to play for. The results have not been as dire as 9th suggests, it's a very competitive year