Chelsea
have appointed club legend Frank Lampard as caretaker manager until the end
of the season.
Lampard, who was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to watch Chelsea's
goalless draw against Liverpool just 48 hours after Graham Potter was
sacked, will be in charge for Saturday's game at Wolves.
Nothing has been discussed about Lampard staying beyond the summer, with the
process for identifying and appointing a full-time head coach continuing.
Frank Lampard's managerial stats
| Club |
Win percentage |
Goals per game
|
Goals conceded per game |
| Everton |
27% |
0.98 |
1.61 |
| Chelsea |
52% |
2.04 |
1.38 |
| Derby |
46% |
1.81 |
1.40 |
The 44-year-old, who is Chelsea's record goalscorer, was dismissed as head
coach at Stamford Bridge in January 2021 following 18 months in the job. He
then took charge at Everton, but was sacked in January after less than a
year in the role.
Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali told the club's official
website: "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 and exhaustive 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 of the
characteristics and qualities we need to drive us to the finish line.
'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."
Luis Enrique and Nagelsmann leading
contenders to become permanent Blues boss
A caretaker move for Lampard comes after Chelsea held talks in London with
former Barcelona and Spain boss Luis Enrique over their permanent managerial
vacancy.
The 52-year-old, who is out of work after leaving the Spain job following
the World Cup, won the treble at Barcelona in 2014/15, lifting LaLiga, the
Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
The Spaniard and former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann are the leading
contenders to take the job permanently.
Sky in Germany are reporting that talks between Nagelsmann's representatives
and Chelsea are ongoing and positive.
The 35-year-old, recently sacked by Bayern Munich, wants to manage in the
Premier League and sees it as his natural next destination but will not rush
into a decision over his future amid strong interest from Chelsea and
Tottenham.
The German wants a short period to reset and his preference is to oversee a
full pre-season when taking on a new job.
Chelsea are set to assess up to seven candidates with Mauricio Pochettino,
Ruben Amorim, Oliver Glasner and Luciano Spalletti among those under
discussion at Stamford Bridge.
However, Sky Sports News understands former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is
not a candidate, while Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is not believed to
be on the list.
The success of Chelsea's recent interim
managers
S
ky Sports' Sam Blitz:
Interim managers were a common theme of Roman Abramovich's time at Chelsea
and the first full season of the Todd Boehly reign has brought about another
temporary solution in Frank Lampard.
Under Abramovich, every single interim boss Chelsea turned to landed a
trophy during their time at the club:
Guus Hiddink - February to May 2009: Like Graham Potter,
Luiz Felipe Scolari's time at Stamford Bridge ended after just seven months
in charge. Abramovich turned to Russia manager Guus Hiddink as a temporary
fix. The Dutchman only lost one game in charge in his first west London
stint, taking the club to the Champions League semi-finals and winning the
FA Cup, as well as solidifying the club's place in the top four.
Roberto di Matteo - March to May 2012: Andre Villas-Boas'
time as the "second coming of Jose Mourinho" lasted just eight months at
Chelsea, with club legend Di Matteo put in until the end of the season.
Villas-Boas was sacked with Chelsea in fifth place and while the Italian
interim failed to get the Blues into the top four, winning the FA Cup and
the club's first ever Champions League title earned him a place in club
folklore - and a permanent deal.
Rafael Benitez - November 2012 to May 2013: But it wouldn't
last for Di Matteo, as failure to get out of the Champions League group
stages cost him his job just months later. Rafael Benitez was
controversially installed on a temporary basis, the Chelsea fans booing him
regularly due to comments he made about the club while Liverpool manager.
Tasked with boosting the form of £50m striker Fernando Torres, Benitez did
exactly that as he earned Chelsea a Europa League title at the end of the
season.
Guus Hiddink - again! - December 2015 to May 2015: Jose
Mourinho's second stint at the club ended in being sacked just seven months
after earning the Blues a Premier League title. This time, Hiddink was
brought in with Chelsea sitting 16th in the table - with relegation a
possibility upon his arrival. No trophy would greet the Dutchman at the end
of the season, but Hiddink did manage to get Chelsea up to 10th place, one
of his final games saw his Blues side deny Tottenham the title by handing it
to Leicester City.
Frank Lampard - April to May 2023: This time, Lampard
returns to the Stamford Bridge dugout having won trophies with three Chelsea
interim managers during his playing days. The former Blues manager has a
Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid coming up - he couldn't
repeat history, could he?
Chelsea's remaining fixtures
Saturday: Wolves (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
Wednesday: Real Madrid (A), Champions League quarter-final, kick-off 8pm
April 15: Brighton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 18: Real Madrid (H), Champions League quarter-final, kick-off 8pm
April 26: Brentford (H) - Premier League, kick-off 7.45pm
April 29: Arsenal (A) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
May 6: Bournemouth (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 13: Nottingham Forest (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Manchester City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Newcastle (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
TBA: Man Utd (A) - Premier League
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