Very rarely does football give a second chance to put things right, such is the harsh nature of the beautiful game; but sometimes circumstances just align. For Frank Lampard and Chelsea, there will be hopes that the match made in heaven won't turn sour like last time.
The former midfielder enjoyed an impressive career at Stamford Bridge as a player before returning as a head coach in 2019 for a spell. Lampard worked well with limited resources in his first year, but his second was far from ideal as Roman Abramovich wouldn't even spare a club legend from the brutal axe he wielded to his managers.
Plenty has changed since with two coaches and a new ownership all through the door since. However, things have come full circle as Lampard is the man in the hot seat once again. Albeit for only a handful of games, the ex-England international has been tasked with guiding the side until the end of the season.
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It has given the 44-year-old a shot at redemption, having not been instructed the role is just for the campaign, saying in his pre-match press conference for Wolves: "No, but I think the role and the explanation of my role speaks for itself in the period that I'm here for. On that term, I'm not getting anywhere ahead of myself. I want to do the best possible role that I can impact the club in the best way in this period. After that, we'll see what happens."
With potentially just a few games to drink in the chance of being Chelsea boss once again, it recalls some advice Lampard was given from some greats of the game a few years ago. He previously told BT Sport: "I spoke with Walter Smith before he passed away after I left Chelsea. He gave me some fantastic advice, and so did Carlo Ancelotti at one point and Sir Alex Ferguson.
"The main gist I got was finding perspective on their job. Maybe they can say this because they’ve been through so much in their own ways, good and bad. As a young coach you can feel every defeat really heavily, maybe celebrate every win really heavily, and get very drawn into it and consumed by the job.
"I’ve always found that these managers who’ve achieved such great success have that calmness in all situations, and they passed it on in their words to me and their manner. You can only learn from people like that. And in the race to the top for all us young coaches, you can want to get there really quickly and that can be energy sapping if you’re not careful.
"The experienced coaches that I’ve been fortunate enough to be close to always give you that perspective. Whether it be more family time, whether it be how you deal with certain situations – I always find that very helpful."
With the chance to take charge once again, it could be a fun, if not slightly forgettable, run until the end of the campaign in what has otherwise been an unpredictable and difficult one for those of a Chelsea persuasion.
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