Frank Lampard is set to retake charge of Chelsea as the caretaker manager until the end of the season while the club hunts for a full-time boss. However, his return would hardly make any sense, and here are four reasons for it.
English giants Chelsea is looking for a new full-time head coach after parting ways with Graham Potter last week. While the hunt for the same is on, with potential candidates being interviewed, Bruno Saltor took over the role temporarily. At the same time, he has been replaced by club legend Frank Lampard as the caretaker for the rest of the season.
"We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge. Frank is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club. As we continue our thorough process for a permanent head coach, we want to provide the club and our fans with a clear and stable plan for the remainder of the season. We want to give ourselves every chance of success, and Frank has all the characteristics and qualities we need to drive us to the finish line," said Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali in a club statement.
"We have an important game against Wolves on Saturday, and then we will turn our attention to our Champions League quarter-final in Madrid next week. We are all going to give Frank our full backing as we aim to get the best possible outcome from all our remaining games," the statement concluded.
But will Lampard's second stint with Chelsea be of any good? Here are the four reasons why we believe it won't:
Bigger names available
More considerable managerial candidates are available in the market, even on a caretaker basis. However, seeing The Blues go for Lampard as a caretaker when the top guns are functional rather than hire someone full-time is baffling. With Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enqriue and Mauricio Pochettino, the club could have easily hired someone for the rest of the seasons, giving it a better chance for a European finish.
Squander UEFA Champions League opportunity
The Blues have accepted their fate that they won't make it to the UCL next season, despite having a faint chance this season. Lampard's appointment would only make things more precarious in the UCL berth quest, while the UEFA Europa League (UEL) and UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) berths look like more viable options for them, but will have to fight for it.
Wasn't Saltor as good as a caretaker manager?
As Saltor was appointed as the interim club boss, the move to replace him with another caretaker makes zero sense. It's the same move that fellow English giants Manchester United came up with last season when it replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjær with Michael Carrick on an interim basis, only to replace the latter after three games with caretaker head coach Ralf Rangnick. The move was criticised by most of the fans and pundits, and it seems unlikely that it would work for Chelsea either.
Lampard's numbers are not convincing
Although Lampard guided The Blues to a top-four finish during the 2019-20 season, his numbers were not as convincing as one would expect him to have. It was worse when he joined Everton after leaving Chelsea, as he could manage just 12 wins from 44, besides losing 24 and drawing four, with a win percentage of 27.3%. While he can help the London-based club to a mid-table finish this season, his managerial calibre is questionable, given the ones available.