06 April 2023 , 21:31
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Frank Lampard is back among familiar surroundings at Chelsea, but much has changed in the 27 months since he was sacked as manager.
Lampard was appointed Blues boss for the second time on Thursday, given the reins until the end of the season after Graham Potter went the same way as Thomas Tuchel. The 44-year-old is delighted to be back in the game a few months on from being sacked by Everton.
His status as club legend remains undisputed and, while many of the players remain the same, the hierarchy has changed. Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have taken over from the familiar face of Roman Abramovich, while key players Marina Granovskaia and Bruce Buck have been replaced by sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.
It was Granovskaia and Buck who presided over Lampard’s sacking in January 2021. Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap in December 2021, Lampard explained how the dismissal played out following a FA Cup win over Luton Town.
He was asked to move training and was called into the boardroom by Buck, where they gave him the bad news. "Not at the time, but I was thankful for the period, you understand what it is – they are going to move on and there is nothing you can do about it, I've never been in that position before and it was a little bit surreal at the time, but it is what is,” he said.
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"When you take the job, you understand that call may come, unless you are winning back to back titles that's going to happen."
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Lampard was sacked on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Leicester, which meant his side had won just two of their last eight Premier League games. But there was much more than just results behind his dismissal – things had been crumbling behind the scenes for some time before that.
Rewind to pre-season before the 2020/21 campaign and Lampard was full of hope. The club shelled out around £220million to sign the likes of Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz, Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech to Stamford Bridge as well as Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr.
Those reinforcements came with high expectations from Abramovich. And, unfortunately for Lampard, he was unable to fulfil those expectations, with friction continuous in the dressing room.
Chelsea ’s hierarchy had been busy sounding out eventual successor Tuchel, as well as Ralf Rangnick and Julian Nagelsmann, before they pulled the trigger on Lampard. They had done so due to concerns around Lampard’s man-management.
Many players were disaffected because of Lampard’s inability to foster a strong spirit right across the squad. While players like Mason Mount benefited from Lampard’s favour, others felt ignored and isolated. The Athletic reported that some hadn’t spoken to the manager one-on-one for months, while others felt there was a lack of tactical direction in matches.
That situation forced technical and performance director Petr Cech into action behind the scenes. The former Chelsea goalkeeper – and team-mate of Lampard – ended up acting as a go-between, reassuring players and their agents.
The Chelsea dressing room was not a happy place in the latter stages of Frank Lampard's last reign (Julian Finney/Getty Images)There were problems in full view of the public, too. Lampard was not shy about criticising his players in press conferences and that tendency caused yet more unhappiness in the squad.
Then there was his insistence that Chelsea go after West Ham midfielder Declan Rice. That suggestion became a real bone of contention for the likes of Granovskaia, who had overseen a huge expenditure on other players, who were now underperforming in Lampard’s team.
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The ill feeling was felt by Lampard himself, so was reportedly close to walking out. It was only his personal connection to the club and his professional nature that stopped him from doing so.
Now, just over two years on, he is back in the hotseat he was forced to vacate. He will be hoping that similar issues do not undermine his efforts once again.