Frank Lampard says Chelsea’s woeful run of five successive defeats since he took charged of the troubled club should not damage his managerial reputation.
Chelsea suffered yet another embarrassing result in a woeful
season as their west London neighbours Brentford won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on
Wednesday.
Lampard has been unable to stop the rot since replacing the
sacked Graham Potter, who was only hired in September following Thomas Tuchel’s
shock dismissal.
In his second spell as Chelsea boss after previously being
sacked by former owner Roman Abramovich in 2021, Lampard is only in charge
until the end of the season.
Former Tottenham and Paris Saint Germain boss Mauricio
Pochettino is reportedly close to being hired as Chelsea’s next permanent
manager.
Lampard’s reputation had already been tarnished by his
sacking at Everton in January, with the former England midfielder leaving
Goodison Park with the team mired in a relegation battle.
With 11th placed Chelsea in danger of finishing outside the
top half of the Premier League for the first time since 1996, Lampard could be
doing harm to his future prospects by associating himself with the crisis-torn
Blues.
But Chelsea’s record goalscorer sees it differently,
believing potential employers must realise the mess the club was already in
prior to his return.
“I took the job on knowing the jeopardy of what it might be,
but I’m very proud to manage here,” Lampard said.
“I came here (in 2019) when we had a difficult moment
before, and we had big success in my first year. I went to Everton and had a
challenge to stay in the league. I stayed in the league.
“People will perceive you in a different way anyway. In the
short-term, I’m not worried.”
Chelsea have lost to Wolves, Brighton and Brentford in the
Premier League under Lampard, while also being dumped out of the Champions
League quarter-finals by Real Madrid.
They have failed to score in four of Lampard’s five matches
as he struggles to make a cohesive unit out of a disparate group assembled
during co-owner Todd Boehly’s £550 million ($684 million) spending spree in the
last 11 months.
“I want to win games, that’s clear. But I understand the
problems as to why we’re probably not winning games,” he said.
“I got asked before about belief and how we’re going to
change that. I can’t just say ‘lads, believe’ and they’re going to run out and
believe all of a sudden.
“Those things take time and they take a bit of work, then
maybe something goes in your favour. Against Brentford, nothing went in our
favour.” AFP