Redknapp cites Fergie as he slams Chelsea over Lampard

Former Tottenham and West Ham boss Harry Redknapp thinks the decision from Chelsea to sack Frank Lampard was a “knee-jerk reaction”.

It was confirmed late Monday morning that Lampard had been relieved of his duties with widespread reports that former PSG boss Thomas Tuchel would be taking over.

Their victory over Luton Town in the FA Cup on Sunday did nothing to prolong Lampard’s stay at Stamford Bridge after the Chelsea legend oversaw a run of five defeats from eight Premier League games.

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And Redknapp thought his nephew needed more time to stamp his mark on the Chelsea squad with plenty of managers going through a rough patch this season.

“It’s very disappointing to hear the news this morning,” Redknapp told talkSPORT.

“On the back of a good result, beating Luton in the FA Cup, I thought they’d give him a bit of time.

“I thought [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer was sure to go, no way he was going to survive, but Manchester United gave him a bit of time and suddenly they have a little run and turn it around.

“Everybody goes through bad spells; Jurgen Klopp is going through one now at Liverpool, Mikel Arteta is going through one at Arsenal as well.

“People need time. Losing four or five games doesn’t suddenly make you a bad manager! Surely you’ve got to have more faith in people rather than giving them that knee-jerk reaction.

“When you look at the players, people say he’s spent all this money, did he bring the players in? Did he bring the Germans in? Management is so different now, managers aren’t always responsible for signing players.

“The recruitment for me in the summer, all the money they spent, I don’t think they spent it well. I’ve not been impressed with the players they’ve brought in apart from Thiago Silva who they brought in on a free transfer, the rest of them there are big question marks over.

“The two German players have been massive disappointments, massive. I’m not even sure Timo Werner is cut out for Premier League football, the physical side is too much for him.

“I doubt very much whether Frank had a big say over in who came in.

“If they were worried about his lack of experience, maybe they should have brought someone in with a bit more experience around him. You need people around you when things are not going well, and he didn’t have that.

“The bottom line is you need time. You’re going to have your ups and downs.

“Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn’t have survived at Man United [nowadays]; he survived by the skin of his teeth, the board looked like they were going to sack him after 18 months or two years at Old Trafford when he hadn’t won anything, but he then went on for many, many years and was arguably the greatest manager we’ve ever had.

“You need time, and unfortunately at Chelsea it’s a club where they don’t seem to give you time.”

On Lampard’s future in football management, Redknapp added: “I haven’t spoken to Frank today, I messaged him last night after the win yesterday. I enjoyed watching him bring back Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount is a great kid who wants to play for him, Tammy Abraham getting a hat-trick, it was a good day for them.

“I thought it could be the start of a run for them, so I’m really disappointed today and he’ll be choked up for sure. Frank absolutely loves the club, he was really enjoying the job even though results hadn’t gone well, he believed in himself enough to know he could turn it around.

“Frank is a very independent and wealthy boy, if he doesn’t want another job the TV companies will be all over him for sure.

“But I think he loves it, he loves being involved in the game and I’m sure he’ll be looking to come back in again in the future when an opportunity comes up.”