At least this time Frank Lampard was given an opportunity to say goodbye.
On a lethargic lap of honour in which the Chelsea players kicked miniature footballs into the stands as a mild gesture of thanks to the supporters who have endured their team’s most miserable campaign for three decades, the interim head coach paused on several occasions to stare towards those who continue to idolise him.
It was not a goodbye, Lampard insisted in “corny” fashion before yesterday's forgettable 1-1 draw with Newcastle, because his relationship with the matchgoing fan has been unaffected by the recent misery of a run that brought one win in 11 games during the final weeks of a season that had already been written off.
The club’s record goalscorer was the last man off, standing idly near the tunnel as he waited for captain Cesar Azpilicueta to soak up the response on what is widely expected to have been his final game for the club he joined in the summer of 2012.
Lampard, the Chelsea legend, will return here many times as the most welcomed of guests. But what happens next for Lampard, the head coach, is less clear.
If he was not Frank Lampard then this would have been his final day in charge of a Premier League team. Instead by virtue of status and a web of connections, would anyone be surprised to see him reboarding the carousel come August? There are already whispers of him being considered as the next England Under-21 head coach if Lee Carsley moves on after the summer and, who knows, that could be a first step onto an eventual path to the top job.
Yet the performances and results of the past season would be the end game for almost anyone else.
Before being sacked by Everton in January, they had won three and drawn six of 20 games for a points per game average of 0.75. The Chelsea record was even worse: one win and two draws from nine league fixtures for an average of 0.55 (plus a pair of convincing defeats to Real Madrid in the Champions League).
A number of circumstances have conspired against him, of course. Take last week's revelation that he instructed Chelsea to sign Erling Haaland during his first spell in charge. It was impossible not to feel a deep and immediate sympathy before wondering how differently things may have turned out if the Norwegian had moved to Stamford Bridge. Instead Lampard had to make do with a squad that … ended up winning the Champions League five months after he was sacked.
Sarcasm parked, he did deserve another shot away from the intense focus of west London and keeping Everton up last season was a solid achievement. The off-field shambles at Goodison Park made life more difficult but the dressing room grew weary of his methods and the regular throwing away of leads, defensive disorganisation and a blunt attack made his sacking inevitable in late January.
At that point it looked like Lampard would need to take stock and if he wanted another go, a chance to rebuild and redeem, perhaps step back down to the Championship or look further afield. Then came Chelsea’s brainwave to appoint someone to satisfy a disgruntled fanbase.
Lampard, as yesterday afternoon's reception proved, was the obvious choice for that and no one can blame him for accepting. But it has gone more wrong than anybody could have envisaged. Initially it was framed as a free hit. Notch up a few league wins, see if 2012 can be re-enacted with a run in the Champions League and, against the odds, elevate his status from a club legend to the club legend.
It would have been logical were it not for the increasing bundle of evidence that Lampard is nowhere near the standard required at this level. Or the fact a large portion of Chelsea’s squad was looking towards the exit door with the rest towards starting again under a new man in August. That man will be Mauricio Pochettino and, frankly, he needs all the luck he can get.
"Matchgoing fans see the situation I’ve come into," Lampard said yesterday evening, admitting that the next man in charge faces a "challenge" to fix the mess he (or, rather his predecessors) is leaving. "It’s not been easy to turn it around in a short time but I’ve given everything. I’m connected to this club for life. That will not change in my head no matter what. I appreciate how they were throughout and after the game. I’m a Chelsea man at heart."
The biggest issue for Lampard has been the absence of self-development and that remarkable knack to blame everyone apart from himself. At full time yesterday he again questioned the fitness and commitment of some players and claimed “the seeds were sown before I got here.”
This, from a neutral point of view, is difficult to process. He is right to say the work ethic has slipped among a bloated squad packed with big egos. Just nevermind the fact it has been Lampard’s job to, if not raise, at least maintain standards. That they have fallen further from an already shoddy place is the clearest summary of how he has failed.
But Lampard, who insists his motivation has not been diminshed by the past two months, will get another decent job. The problem is that unless he finds new ways the same cycle will occur in a classic tale of a workman blaming his tools.
