Sky Sports news reported this afternoon that Chelsea will stick with Frank Lampard as their caretaker until the end of the season, despite the club’s continuing poor form.
The Blues have lost all their games since Lampard came in as caretaker, and after a loss to Brentford last night there are serious questions about whether keeping him for the last 6 games is a good idea.
But without a ready successor to hand, it seems like the club will just swallow any results rather than suffer the humiliation of a fifth manager in one campaign.
Frank Lampard will continue to be Chelsea’s caretaker manager until the end of the season, Sky Sports News understands. 🔵 pic.twitter.com/uY5wL7qj3d
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 27, 2023
Tottenham sacked their caretaker Cristian Stellini after he took a historic beating from Newcastle on Sunday – although he was previously Antonio Conte’s assistant, so it was a slightly different situation.
It’s a dreadfully embarrassing situation for Chelsea, Lampard, the ownership and the sporting directors. The new man is almost ready to come in – but can you blame him for wanting to avoid this nightmare?
Isn’t the first rule of being a “caretaker” straight out of the Hippocratic Oath? “Do No Harm.” An yet Lampard has shown a seemingly insatiable urge to tinker, as if he thinks he has answers that no one else saw (like, YES, Potter just needed to be play Sterling and Gallagher up top and we’d be on our way to 100pts!). Lampard fails to realize that he wasn’t hired for his tactical acumen (indeed, he’s been twice fired for his lack thereof!). Rather, he was hired to keep the ship afloat and prevent the crew from mutiny. It would appear he’s failing on both counts.
Even if we concede that Potter was not the long-term best fit, I think the current mess ought to be begging a big question for all those who demanded Potter’s head. Would we have been better off sticking with Potter until a suitable replacement could be found? In my mind, the answer is an obvious “yes” because we were solidly middle of the table with Potter (and even the “interim”) whereas we are in total free fall under Lampard.