"Results and performances have not met the club's expectations, leaving the club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement," a statement from Chelsea FC read when Frank Lampard was relieved of his duties in January 2021. The club legend spent 18 months in charge of the Blues in tricky circumstances but could not successfully implement his ideology on the side.
Lampard led the Blues to a fourth-place finish in the 2020/21 season, which was seen as a resounding success after the club were banned from all transfer activity in the summer before. It seemed that Lampard did the difficult bit, and the rest would be smoother in his tenure at Chelsea.
That was not the case, however. Lampard's last Premier League match in charge of Chelsea came on January 19, where the Blues were beaten 2-0 at Leicester City - a defeat that saw them slump to eighth in the table. That spelt the end for Lampard, who was then sacked in typical Chelsea fashion under Roman Abramovich.
