As Chelsea approach their 33rd Premier League game of the season against title-contending Arsenal, there's a sense the Blues have entered footballing purgatory. No success can be derived from the season and the club's future is not obvious.
Frank Lampard is in a caretaker role; no head coach has been appointed for next term and with a bloated squad, a number of players will not expect to be at Stamford Bridge next term. Perhaps few want to be there at the moment with the club sitting in 12th position, and 36 points behind the Gunners.
Lampard has presided over five defeats following his return and Chelsea managed just one goal in January, a heavily deflected strike from Conor Gallagher. With all of the top four still to play, things won't get any easier. Some may be worried about their reputation, but that is not a concern of the 44-year-old manager at the moment.
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He said: "So I was aware of that [the difficult start that awaited] and I don’t think you can live your career considering those negatives and what they might mean. My footballing playing career has given me a level of comfort that I don’t have to be concerned. I just have to take decisions and enjoy working. So I am not concerned at that.
"I want to win games now but I am not thinking 'what might this mean for me?' Because for me in my managerial career I have had versions of successes and obviously times when I have left clubs and I think that can be a pretty familiar story in modern-day management so I can’t overthink that one.
"I am very realistic about how much I can change in a short period of time. So we are trying to change certain things and it’s an interesting part and why I am enjoying the experience of being an interim coach to being a coach with a four-year contract because there are different ways you have to approach things and different priorities, probably, as a reality for you.
"Are there things we can change until the end? Yes, to improve. Will they be shown in results? Not necessarily because this is the Premier League and we need to improve performance and the reality is also that if we are struggling at the top end of the pitch to score goals, I get asked what’s the solution to that and there isn’t an easy one always and sometimes it’s a harsh solution in the summer that will be the answer to that.
"So when you want to fight and go toe-to-toe with teams you need to be able to score goals in those moments and that’s something that’s been a problem here for a while."
With little left to play for, there's an argument players could already be 'on the beach', outside of any personal pride that remains to drive the west London side out of their dreadful form.
"There are definitely challenges, as you have laid out. But I have also booked my holidays in June - but I am no less motivated to face Arsenal just because I am going to America or something," Lampard added. "It is not going to work that way for me and it is not going to work that way for the players. I understand, and I also understand young lads who are maybe considering their futures, considering what next year might look like for them, and I can’t expect everybody in a 30-man squad to walk in with a big smile on their face."
While there may be little to be enthusiastic about, Lampard remains proud to be in charge. Interim positions have proved vulnerable this term with Bruno Saltor remaining in charge for just one game, while Christian Stellini's results in charge of Spurs meant Daniel Levy relieved the coach of his short-term position and put Ryan Mason in charge. Despite the Blues' current situation, the former Chelsea midfielder was adamant he was staying until the end of the season.
"Absolutely," he said, "I have got pride and I want to do this job as well as I can - but I am not going to care if somebody thinks I was too defensive against Brentford. If you think like that, you cannot do your job, because everybody has an opinion. I enjoy a challenge.
"Will I come out a slightly better coach than I was? I think probably yes. I came out of Chelsea last time better, I came out of Everton better and I will come out of this again better. I’m the manager of Chelsea Football Club - and that’s not a bad position to be in. And I’ve got my holidays booked!"
But is there a difference in his interactions with players, given the temporary nature of his role?
"It’s hard to follow them around all day and hear their conversations at home with the Mrs or friend or whatever," Lampard said. "I’m not aware of that and it’s probably part of my job to delete that of it anyway and consider the two hours you have with them and what you can affect on the training pitch.
"It’s clear it’s a very difficult moment for them. Wherever you want to lay the responsibility for that, it doesn’t really matter to me in the short period. Some things are quite good about being interim: this is what it is, I can try and do as well as I can in this period.
"Other things you kind of go: ok, of course this is longer term. To develop a player in five weeks, from one thing to the finished article, is not going to happen. You also need the player to be of a level where they are going to produce. Developing players is always going to be looked at and people might credit myself with Mason or credit another manager with another young player coming through. The player has to be of a level. In the interim stage you have to prioritise the things right. But I haven’t felt too much difference from players or staff.
"In fact, everyone in the building has been very positive. I read a couple of articles this week about how its never been lower. That’s not the case around the building. When we go on the training pitch of course when you’re not winning games it’s not an amazing place but part of my job at the start was to come and bring a different approach, and we have certainly brought that. It’s just it doesn’t always relate to results unfortunately. We have to get performance to relate to results."
It is no surprise that some of the Premier League's success stories can been seen in those coaches who have spent the longest at their clubs. Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, Thomas Frank and Mikel Arteta have served longer than anyone else in the division, though perhaps their success has earned their extended tenure. Nevertheless, taking some inspiration from Arsenal might do Chelsea no harm.
"I suppose so. It’s for everyone else to compare I guess," Lampard added. "But I was always part of the Chelsea team that changed managers regularly. With casual hindsight it is easy to say I had great success. I won three titles but I should have won five or six. That’s my feeling. Sometimes the lack of consistency of being able to work in one direction might have won us more titles and I feel like we should have done.
"I don’t think there is always an obvious method but I do think that if you are trying to work for something, you look at the successful models at the top end of the league at the minute and you see managers that have been working in there a long time, recruitment that is aligned with the type of squad and identity they want to bring and it works in a direction. You see City, Liverpool and Arsenal. So clearly if you want to get there it’s something that hopefully aligns. At the moment for us it hasn’t."
Graham Potter was appointed as part of a long term vision that failed to materialise quite quickly. Do the club need to commit to their next boss unconditionally?
"Don’t think I would go that far," said the ex-Everton boss, "Because you do have to have success in that period. All situations are different. Chelsea were so used to winning for long periods of time, maybe a short period of non-success brings a real kick-back. Maybe with Arsenal, for instance, they had quite a few years of not getting what they wanted so they decided we are going to stick with this and maybe get it to work. Everyone has different pressures in those moments, so I don’t think you can say that the next manager should be here for five years because within that Chelsea need to have successes. But in an ideal world the next manager would bring more stability, but it is a lot of hard work to get that right."
While Chelsea are in conversations with Mauricio Pochettino, and a whole host of other names have being linked to the Chelsea hotseat since Lampard took the caretaker role, the Blues are yet to name a successor. Lampard believes the club are correct to patient and can understand why someone would not want to come in immediately.
Lampard said: "Do they need to take their time to get the right manager? Yeah, they absolutely should do. We are at that stage of the season now where we understand that we are not going to get into Europe, and other managers are probably going, 'I’ll take a look at this and wait till pre-season when I can enforce what I want to do.'
"It’s not silly on their part - we’ve got the top four in the run-in and that is going to be a difficult process of games."
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