Why Frank Lampard’s return to Chelsea makes total sense for everyone involved…
The Mailbox reacts to Frank Lampard’s imminent return to Stamford Bridge, with one Chelsea fan thrilled at the interim appointment. Everyone else is laughing at them…
Get your views in to theeditor@football365.com…
Loving Lampard’s return
So, it looks like Super Frank is returning, and contrary to Simon Jordan’s opinion, it actually makes sense for all involved.
The board get extra time to consider the next full time appointment (please don’t let it be Enrique) whilst simultaneously winning some brownie points with the fans.
The fans get to see the return of a club legend who we can all get behind, which should lift the mood and if last time is anything to go by, scoring goals should no longer be an issue (albeit I strongly suspect we won’t keep many more clean sheets…).
And as for Frank, well he gets to help a club that he obviously cares about, he gets a free hit at the Champions League (he can’t do a Bobby Di Matteo, can he?) but with zero pressure/expectation in the league and let’s be honest, he can’t do any worse than Potter and crucially, IF Frank turns the ship around or somehow delivers another European trophy, then surely the gig will be his full time (whether that would be the right solution long term is a question for another day, and yes I’m looking at you Ole) but overall, it’s win win for everyone.
It does however beg the question. Is Frank this generations answer to Guus Hiddink? Will he be wheeled out every 18 months or so whenever another manager bites the dust? I for one hope so, and either way, the soap opera at the bridge continues.
It’s certainly never dull as a Chelsea fan, and I for one am here for it.
James, (Chelsea and Fleet), Gravesend.
Other Frank opinions
I’m not sure I’ve ever been more shocked by a move in football before. What the f**k. Seriously, what the f**k.
Lampard back to Chelsea might be the dumbest decision any club has made ever. How the flying f**k can LAMPARD be back as manager. Regardless of ‘interim’. What other ‘top level’ club has re-hired a complete failure of a manager before? He was going to get relegated with Everton and Todd F**king Boehly thinks hes a good choice?
It makes the owners look even more incompetent than they have so far, and let’s get this right, they’ve been completely incompetent up until this point. It makes Lampard look like some sycophantic moron who believes his own hype to the extent that he would even take the job and not think it would make him look incredibly weak.
Chelsea need chaos. It’s been true probably back to the Ken Bates days. But this is something else. This is staggering.
Theres this thing in football where you don’t give up on the club you support no matter what. I wont stop being a Chelsea fan, but I will stop investing any of my time or giving any money to a bussiness run by utter morons.
F**king LAMPARD!!!!
Will CFC (Boehly out. But hes a billionaire so he can and will do whatever the f**k he wants)
…Another day, another nail in the coffin of Chelsea FC. You really have to wonder if boehlys taken advice on “how to run a football club” from Bill Kenwright.
Seriously, Lampard?
I like the guy but he was woefully out of his depth for us, at least there’s 9 points between them and palace, should save them from relegation.
Fat Man (Kenwright out)
…Genuine LOL happened at the Frank Lampard news.
What a joke of a club Chelsea are
Tim Sutton (Mitrovic 8 – Doesn’t matter if he’s on the pitch Nunez)
…You know, Frank Lampard managing Chelsea again is a little like the mule with a spinning wheel, No one knows how he got it, and danged if he knows how to use it!
Luke (What is it with Football and failure?)
…If no one uses the headline FRANKIE GOES TO BOEHLYWOOD then we have failed as a nation and maybe as a species.
Matt Hennessey
…Looking like Phil Thomas 1 Football365 0...
Philip Walter
Following Boehly’s lead
With Lampard seemingly poised to be appointed by Chelsea, I look forward to the Premier League’s lesser lights following the lead of the strategically visionary Boehly and co. in reappointing sh*t biscuit failures to positions they have already immutably proven they are about as effective in (to quote Malcolm Tucker) as marzipan dildos. Spurs? Crack out that ‘break in case of emergency’ gilet, ready a cheese board of mild cheddar and get Emmanuel Adebayor on speed dial because Tactics Tim is back. Leicester? Has to be Craig ‘We knew him too well’ Shakespeare. Given the turmoil at West Ham and Liverpool, Avram Grant must be waiting expectantly by his mobile, and Fenway’s lawyers exploring the legalities of poaching Roy Hodgson from Palace, who obviously would seek to replace him on an interim basis with Frank De Boer.
D*cky Malb@lls
Most damning indictment
No 16 Conclusions on an end of season, Chelsea v Liverpool match?
And nor should there be, especially after that shower of mediocrity.
I can think of no clearer and indictment of both teams.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
The M Rod
Read more: Chelsea v Liverpool was truly El Sh*tico but toothless is easier to fix than clueless
Better from United
The first half was a much-improved performance compared to the game against Newcastle on Sunday. From the first minute, United were in control of the ball and were creating chance after chance. The player of the first half for me was Sabitzer. Considering he has to play next to McTominay he has been everywhere and creating chances and got the assist for Rashford. McTominay continues to master the hide-and-seek skill by staying in between 3 or 4 Brentford players so he’s never open but luckily he has not been as bad as usual. We were playing quite a high line as Brentford do not like to have much possession so this looked a lot like a performance Ten Hag likes and played at Ajax so that’s nice to see.
The second half was is what I expected to happen as Brentford played much better than the first half and did cause United some problems. I wouldn’t say I felt worried in the second half except for one chance from Schade that De Gea deals with perfectly. We kept our performance from the first half up it’s just that Brentford were trying a bit more. I felt every player did there job and it was a real improvement from the Newcastle game.
Overall, This was what was needed after the Newcastle game. I was worried seeing we only made one change for the game but knowing Ten Hag I was not too worried. He made the players actually try and play the performance they were meant to give against Newcastle. Sabitzer impressed me, especially with his aerial ability. There were multiple times he would win a header and start an attack for us from a kick out which is nice to see as Weghorst doesn’t win many headers considering he’s 6’6. Hopefully, we play like this against Everton as I think we can get a really good result against Everton if we played like we did today, especially in the first half. There is also a chance Eriksen could return to the bench which would be really good to see as we have missed him. Sad to see that Shaw came off due to a hamstring issue hopefully its nothing too serious and its more precaution than anything. Only one more game until we get Casemiro back and I can’t wait to see him back with either Eriksen or Sabitzer next to him.
Max of Whitegate
Ten Hag’s got this
Lads – calm down. Ten Hag has been at United less than a season and just lost away to a very good side. No need to panic.
Results speak for themselves and clearly there has been a massive aggregate improvement at United this season. We’ve won a cup and are in two semi-finals. More importantly, we’re comfortably in the top 4 race. A few weeks ago we were apparently in a title race. Clearly this represents a massive improvement on recent years.
Ten Hag has shown his ability to manage the squad:
– Ronaldo OUT was the right decision, and a brave call to make.
– Casemerio, Eriksen, Malacia, Varane have all been brilliant signings, demonstrating that Ten Hag knows what we need.
– Anthony (despite many doubters) is a young lad in his first season in the EPL, and has managed 7 goals in all comps this season. He’s doing fine and has plenty of time to prove the doubters wrong.
Weghorst is a loan signing. His sole purpose has been to fill a gap while Martial is perma-injured and until we can sign a striker in the summer. Many managers would have panic-bought a striker in January, but Ten Hag didn’t have the money that Liverpool did to spunk £50m on Gakpo. Instead, he focused on slow and steady progression, with a long-term view that it will be better to get the right man in the summer. Which hopefully we will. Noone expected Weghorst to come in and win us the league. He wasn’t bought to instantly revitalize the team and spearhead a title charge like Van Persie. He is a stop-gap and if we manage to finish in the top 4 (and thereby achieve our season’s key objective) then he will have proved himself adequate for that purpose.
I’d urge United fans to look at the big picture. We’ve been in the wilderness for 8/9 years. The path back to success won’t be instant. All we wanted from our new manager was progress, a top 4 finish and a sense of direction. Ten Hag is (hopefully) providing all of this and more, with at least one trophy this season so far. The man is doing a world class job turning round the utter sh*t show of recent years. There will be bumps in the road while we go through the process of shaking off our ingrained psychological issues, but that is OK. Losing to a good Newcastle side should not distract us from what is clearly a positive trajectory.
(Also – if you throw Casemeiro and Eriksen into that Newcastle game it might look very different.)
We’ll make more quality signings in the summer, and probably ship a few out too. Ten Hag’s plan will move into phase 2 and we’ll go from there. Until then, let’s try not to go to pieces like hysterical Liverpool fans just because we lose a game or two…
RQT (MUFC)
Klopp’s aim
As Klopp hasn’t won the full set for Liverpool, I wonder if he is aiming to qualify for the europa league to right the wrongs of 2016? Or is he aiming to win the europa conference league at his first attempt? Judging from recent games they look a massive shadow of their former selves.
Jokes aside, the Chelsea – Liverpool game was awful. Chelsea need a squad trim, a striker and an experienced, proven winning manager, stat. Get Carlo back from Real Madrid if he gets the sack.
As for Liverpool, Klopp has done more than enough to say when he goes but if he to rebuild he needs to get that fire back into the team.
As an aside, the relegation fight is cracking, albeit stressful. A win for Leeds v palace will officially drag palace into the mess. If arsenal have won the league by the final day then sky must show as many of the relegation teams as possible especially given the various six pointers on offer.
Tom.
Kop karma
Some old gags never lose their effect. Like the one about Liverpool being in contention for the Champions League. I cannot tire of hearing it. Karma for doing everything possible to derail NUFC’s takeover. There is only place for four snouts at this trough and a few of the Big/Medium-size 6 are just going to have to stand aside. As for Liverpool, that couldn’t happen to a nicer club. Nothing that they, or Mike Dean, can do about that.
Simon, Tokyo