‘I saw things that I know can’t be right’ – Frank Lampard lifts lid on chaos behind the scenes at Chelsea
FRANK LAMPARD has revealed “the truth” on his ill-fated interim spell as Chelsea boss.
The Blues legend, 46, took charge of the club on a temporary basis following the dismissal of Graham Potter in April 2023.
Lampard spent 13 years at Chelsea as a player and is the club’s all-time top goal scorer with 211 goals in 648 games.
He had previously served as manager between 2019 and January 2021, before an ill-fated tenure at Everton.
The 46-year-old was tempted back to the club by co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali after Potter was given the boot.
But he endured a miserable run of form, winning just one of his 11 games in charge.
Lampard has now lifted the lid on his short return to West London.
He told Sky Sports: “I saw things that I know cannot be right at elite football and that’s the truth.
“I didn’t love working in that short period because it’s hard to lay down an idea when you’re going to be leaving.”
Since Lampard’s exit, Chelsea have continued to have issues and are in a battle to qualify for the Champions League.
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It was revealed this week that Chelsea had sold their own women’s team to themselves to avoid a PSR punishment.
Meanwhile new manager Enzo Maresca recently cancelled a day off because he was so angry at the lack of effort from some of his senior players in training.
Lampard, now manager at Coventry, insists Chelsea will “always be a massive club in his life.”
But he regrets taking on the interim role and admits “motivation was a problem.”
He continued: “But when I understand the standards of Chelsea – in that period of time a lot of players were in transition of maybe leaving.
“… Motivation was a problem – in an interim period you can’t really affect that.
“When you see the results of it, I’m experienced enough to know what’s right and what’s wrong and basic things in a training ground on a pitch.
“I didn’t learn anything tactical, but it did reinforce my beliefs of all my experiences of when you know what a group is really fighting in the same direction, how strong that can be.
“And when it’s not, it can be really challenging.”
I’m extremely pleased for him and pleased for the club.
Coventry owner Doug King
Lampard returned to football last November after more than 18 months away to take over at the Sky Blues.
Coventry parted ways with Mark Robins, with Lampard since inspiring a magical run of form.
His side has rocketed up the table from 17th and currently sit in the playoff places, with 13 wins from their last 25 games.
Coventry owner Doug King told talkSPORT: “I felt that we needed to change it and Frank was the outstanding candidate.
“He came in and got on with it and in the last six weeks we’ve been on an amazing run to propel us up to fifth.
“I’ve always been consistent that I thought the squad of players was good enough to be in that position.
“But that’s my view and reality is something different and was different at the end of November.
“He’s done a great job. He’s been great around the place, positive, a really good people person.
“Tactically we’ve ground out results in difficult moments when we didn’t have a full squad.
“I’m extremely pleased for him and pleased for the club.”
And Lampard’s heroics have resulted in him being tipped for the ENGLAND job.
Fellow Championship boss Chris Wilder said: “I’ve got an enormous amount of respect for Frank Lampard, I honestly have.
“His playing career is there for everybody to see but I just love the fact that he loves football and it just shines through.
“Tough gig at Chelsea when they didn’t sign any players and he had to play a lot of young players. Tough gig at Everton.
“I don’t think he gets the credit that he deserves, I honestly don’t.
“People talk about England managers and people are critical of him, I just don’t get it. He can quite easily manage England.”