London –
Frank Lampard fired Chelsea from a managerial position in the middle of this season. The dismissal had made him worried about damaging the relationship with his fans.
Lampard was appointed to coach Chelsea in July 2019 after leading Derby County to the Play-off Championship final the previous season. This marks the return of the legendary midfielder to Stamford Bridge since leaving as a player in 2014.
In his first season, Lampard brought Chelsea finish in fourth position Premier League and was runner-up to the FA Cup and European Super Cup. The situation then got complicated in the second year.
Lampard was fired on 25 January, after Chelsea won only two wins from eight consecutive matches in the Premier League. At that point, The Blues scattered to position nine.
His position was later replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who in the process successfully returned the team to the top four. Meanwhile, Lampard left the club wondering how the fans would view him.
“I have to admit that when you lose your job it’s difficult. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar. That’s not true,” he told Telegraph and quoted Sky Sports.
“There’s an element of pride, you work for something one day and then it’s taken away. That’s life. You have to be someone who accepts the reality of this.”
“As soon as the situation has to calm down and one of the big things for me is, living at Chelsea, one mile from the headquarters, I often walk and meet fans. Chelsea all the time.”
“You think how the reaction will be, because you lost your job, will they be happy with your performance or not? And I think that makes me more aware of the bond I have with them from when I was playing, also from what they see, from what they are. I worked on the first season (as a manager), to the point where I left in the second season, “he added.
Lampard is currently unemployed. His name has recently been linked with a position at Crystal Palace, following Roy Hodgson’s retirement at the end of this season.
(raw/mrp)
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