Strained relations, ruthlessness, and a board not in-sync with the manager
The stories of Frank Lampard's Chelsea reign are shockingly filtering through now...
Frank Lampard now has a ‘strained relationship’ with his former Chelsea team mate and fellow club legend Petr Cech - this is my main heart-breaking takeaway from the latest ‘inside story’ of Lampard’s reign as Chelsea boss.
Sam Wallace of the Telegraph has written the piece, and a lot of it is shocking, yet unsurprising all in one.
When Lampard took the job I had real concerns. Concerns that it was too soon for him, and concerns that he would get screwed over by an often ruthless Chelsea board.
Being ‘screwed over’ might be a bit strong, but it is clear that Lampard and the board were far from being in-sync throughout his tenure.
Yes, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell, and Timo Werner were all Lampard’s targets, and the board backed him by signing them, as Wallace confirms.
However, Kai Havertz was a board signing, and also Marina Granovskaia herself blocked Lampard selling Antonio Rudiger, Jorginho, and Marcos Alonso.
As well as that, Granovskaia never wanted Lampard in the first place, so he was pretty much doomed from the off. He was put in place because the board knew he was a coach that knew the academy well and would get the best out of the team whilst under a transfer ban, and he did exactly that.
Frank Lampard wanted to clear out the squad of those older players who would not buy into his methods, and to be honest, clearing out of the deadwood is something that EVERY Chelsea fan has been asking for over the last few years, anyone who denies this is lying.
Certain players have been average for a while now, and Lampard would have been backed by the majority of the fans if he had sold some of them. That is just a fact.
The irony is that it is the same players who we know to have broken down relations with Lampard and caused issues in the camp.
Lampard wanted to sign Jan Oblak because he did not trust Kepa Arrizabalaga, but he was considered 'too expensive'. Edouard Mendy was the compromise.
Granovskaia has also been very eager to see Kepa Arrizabalaga develop into the player they all expected him to be.
But he has been very poor, and his mistakes were leading to goals. You cannot simply stick with a goalkeeper who is in such poor form.
This is where the problem lies, Granovskaia’s background is one of an executive business person, not a footballing one. Yet, she is making massive footballing decisions.
I think she is the best in the game at negotiating deals and getting the best for player sales and arrivals, but many of us have been calling for an experienced football-brain alongside her as a director of football for quite some time, it would only help the collective cause.
In fairness to Granovskaia, she drove the appointment of Tuchel, and he is a top football coach, there is no doubt about that.
She also felt Lampard was too inexperienced, and again, she is probably right there in a sense.
But Lampard has been used as a stopgap, not someone who has been fully backed by the board, which is the impression many fans were under. Lampard wanted deadwood gone, but it didn’t happen and problems were created in the camp as a result.
You can debate Lampard’s tactics all day, and of course he had many flaws as a manager, hence why I believe he was inexperienced. But his time here has been hampered by a board refusing to fully back him.
A club legend being given the reigns, alongside Cech in the boardroom to help oversee that side of things - the stuff of dreams.
However, it is a stark reminder that football is a business, and one that needs results. The Chelsea aboard will be ruthless if the results are not coming, regardless of who it upsets - it will never change and it has bought success. To them, that’s all that matters.