Chelsea: Lampard opens up on his 'surreal' experience of getting sacked

Chelsea dismissed the club legend from his post at the beginning of 2021.

After spending his first managerial gig at Championship side Derby County, Frank Lampard took charge at Stamford Bridge in 2019.

Chelsea finished fourth in the Premier League during Lampard’s first season in charge. Despite some underwhelming results, the Blues displayed undeniable signs of improvement compared to Maurizio Sari’s era. Maybe this was the reason the club trusted to spend big the next summer.

However, the next season was the start of Lampard’s downfall at Chelsea. In January, A run of five defeats in eight league games gave Chelsea enough reasons to make a change.

What has been said?

In a new interview, Lampard has opened up on how the club informed him about their decision.

He told Garry Neville’s The Overlap: “You know that first message as well, you wake up and think ‘let’s have a flick through Instagram – I’m joking but once the club make that decision, there’s no nice way to do it.

“They said can you come and meet us in the boardroom, I knew straightaway there is no nice way of doing that, there may be different ways of etiquette but at the end of the day results are the same.”

Apologies to my Spurs friends 😂

My 29 questions with Frank Lampard is out now on The Overlap, give it a watch if you like 👍🏻 https://t.co/ENMWuON0XI pic.twitter.com/YKvBGjr9M4
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) November 25, 2021

He added: “When I met Bruce and Marina, it was very cordial – I knew what was coming then.

“Not at the time but I was thankful for the period, you understand what it is – they are going to move on and there is nothing you can do about it, I’ve never been in that position before and it was a little bit surreal at the time, but it is what is.

“When you take the job, you understand that call may come, unless you are winning back to back titles that’s going to happen.”

How has Chelsea performed since then?

Following the sacking of Lampard, Chelsea hired Thomas Tuchel as their next coach in January. The German manager made a monster team out of what Lampard left behind. A few months later, Chelsea celebrated winning their second Champions League title under the former PSG boss.

The Blues are now leading the Premier League table with 33 points from their 14 games. The London side boast the best defence in the league as they have conceded only six goals.