He is back! Chelsea announce Lampard’s appointment

FOOTBALL He is back! Chelsea announce Lampard’s appointment

Kiplagat Sang • 15:51 - 06.04.2023

Lampard is regarded as a Chelsea legend, given the number of trophies he won at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have announced Frank Lampard as the caretaker manager until the end of the season.

This means that the former Everton manager will be in the dugout during their upcoming match against Wolves.

"The move marks a return to Stamford Bridge for Frank, who enjoyed an illustrious playing career with the Blues, winning the Premier League on three occasions and the UEFA Champions League in Munich.

"He managed the club for 84 games, including guiding us to an FA Cup final," Chelsea announced on Thursday.

The club’s co-owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, hailed the Blues’ former midfielder and sounded positive about his return.

"We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge. Frank is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club," Eghbali and Boehly’s joint statement read.

"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."

Lampard was in charge of Everton for less than a year and was shown the door after persistently poor results.

However, as he returns, the retired English footballer, sounds more confident, and eyes will be keen to see whether he will have a far better reign than his previous one.

"This is my club. I have a lot of emotions toward the club. I'm also a practical person," said Lampard as he was unveiled.

"I've been on a different path since I left Chelsea, but to come back at a time when the club has asked me, with a belief I can help until the end of the season, I'm delighted to have this opportunity.

"I'm confident in myself. I've worked with a lot of the players before. I understand what the Chelsea fans want and I will do my utmost to give them what they want."

In his first time as Chelsea manager, the club was under a transfer ban, but he managed to help them finish in fourth place as well as reach the FA Cup final.

The following season, when the ban was lifted, he spent £200 million on seven signings, but results started going south.

He was consequently sacked by Roman Abramovich - with the club ninth in the Premier League – and replaced by current Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel.