Frank Lampard had to go away to be able to come back again. His indirect path could be bringing him back to Chelsea in a poetic way.
As soon as the first legends started to leave the club, fans started to demand Chelsea find a seat at the table for them. There was a sense that the spine of Roman Abramovich’s early days as owner had a greater destiny ahead of them with Chelsea.
But as time passed and more moved on, those roles seemed to be absent. And just over a year ago, Frank Lampard and Jody Morris decided to start their own path. It was a shame that Chelsea did not offer Lampard a place at the club or give Morris a reason to continue. Both left for Derby County but it always felt, as it always does, that they would be back someday.
Fast forward to the present and it appears someday has become any day now. Lampard is heavily linked to become the next Chelsea manager with Morris following as his assistant manager. What started as the indirect path appears to have been the most direct path of all. Had Lampard or Morris stayed, they would not be anywhere close to the Chelsea job.
That is the great irony of the situation; everyone wanted Lampard and Morris to have a spot at Chelsea but they could really only have one by leaving. Had Lampard stayed and been a part of the academy set up, he would be nowhere near the Chelsea job right now. But one year away at Derby County appears to have changed the calculus.
That alone is not all that has changed. The transfer ban plays a massive part in Lampard being favored. As does a keen desire for the academy to become an integral part of Chelsea as opposed to a tangent. There are concerns about experience but those concerns would have only been greater if Lampard had stayed behind the scenes this past year.
Take the reaction to Steve Holland rumors for instance. Holland is, by all accounts, a keen tactical mind after his time at Chelsea. Gareth Southgate gives Holland plenty of credit for England’s achievements the past few years. But many raise his complete lack of managerial experience as a detriment. Lampard, at least, has his year at Derby.
And it is that year at Derby that puts Lampard in position to become Chelsea manager. Fans wanted Chelsea to make a spot for Lampard and he is now only getting a spot because he left and gained first team management experience. Morris has often been critical of the walls Chelsea puts up between the first team and the academy (and by extension, himself) but now he too can come back.
Lampard and Morris returning would allow for those walls to be torn down. English football clubs are inherently outward looking when looking for coaches or players. Lampard and Morris put themselves outside and it allowed them to be called back in. It is a poetic irony that Lampard and Morris will look to change when and if they arrive back at Stamford Bridge this summer.