Chelsea Fired Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Chelsea officially fired manager Frank Lampard after the Blues suffered five defeats in eight Premier League matches. At present, the London club is slipped to ninth position in the standings.

Lampard, who led Chelsea to finish in the top four and enter the FA Cup final on his debut in the 2019-2020 season, has not managed to bring out the best of his squad this season even though the club has spent more than 220 million pounds to buy new players.

He was sent off less than 24 hours after Chelsea beat Luton Town 3-1 on Sunday to reach the FA Cup fifth round.

"It is a very difficult decision for the club, not least because I have a very good personal relationship with Frank and I have great respect for him," Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich said in a statement on the club website.

"He is a person of high integrity and has the highest work ethic. However, in the current situation we believe that it is best to change managers."

Chelsea Football Club has today parted company with Head Coach Frank Lampard.

- Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 25, 2021

"Reportedly Frank Lampard will be sacked by Chelsea today," former England international Gary Lineker said on Twitter shortly before Abramovich's announcement. "It's really ridiculous after he just experienced his bad appearance."

"It always takes time to remember so many new players are feeling their way to adjust to a new club. Patience is a virtue that is rarely shown in this sport. They never learn."

Reports that Frank Lampard will be sacked by @ChelseaFC today. Utterly ludicrous after his first bad run. It was always going to need time given so many new signings feeling their way into a new club. Patience being a virtue is seldom recognized in this sport. They never learn.

- Gary Lineker 💙 (@GaryLineker) January 25, 2021

According to Antara, Lampard, a former midfielder who won three Premier League and Champions League titles and the club's top scorer, became the 12th Chelsea manager to have been sacked since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.

The 42-year-old manager was hired in 2019 after stints at Championship League club Derby County and was praised last season after inheriting a squad that could not be upgraded due to a transfer ban from FIFA which was eventually lifted.

While most clubs are limiting their spending due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chelsea are spending more than British clubs on recruiting players such as Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy.

Seventeen matches unbeaten in all competitions is likely to strengthen Lampard's bargaining power as they qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League as group winners, apart from finishing third in the league standings.

However, Chelsea's form began to struggle in mid-December, which led to their dropping in rank after picking up only two wins from their last eight league games which was capped by a 0-2 defeat to Leicester City last Tuesday.

Lampard has also struggled to fuel Werner's best form, while £ 71million midfielder Havertz has struggled to do well in England, especially after being exposed to COVID-19.

Former Paris Saintt-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel is the favorite to replace, British media report.

Chelsea, who are ninth in the standings with 29 points from 19 games or 11 points behind leaders Manchester United, host Wolverhampton Wanderers this Wednesday.