Chelsea almost manager Frank Lampard has been on the verge of signing any 48 hours now. There is not a rush yet but the fans need someone to rally behind.
Ideally, this article will be published a few hours before or after Frank Lampard is announced as the Chelsea manager. It is an inevitability that it will happen, but every failed proclamation of “within 48 hours” irks a little more than the last.
This “is today the day” has been going on since Maurizio Sarri departed for Juventus. One could even argue it started soon after the Premier League ended when rumors began of Sarri’s imminent departure and Lampard’s imminent arrival.
In a way, waiting on a new manger while knowing it is only a matter of when, not if, is its own Schrodinger’s Cat. The manager could be good or bad but without them having managed a single game, all that remains is possibility. In that possibility lies infinite hopes but the longer the wait goes on, the greater the fractures grow. Chelsea fans desperately need someone to rally behind going into the new season and every day without that central point makes it a little harder.
Both Chelsea and Derby County players are due back on July 1. The former has no manager (obviously) and the latter has the manager the entire world knows will be moving to the former. While the “full preseason” excuse has been trotted out all year, missing a week of fitness tests in ultimately not what makes or break a season.
Still, it is annoying. Lampard is the type of person that would show up at Derby County on Monday with a full preseason planned. He is also the type that will have a full preseason plan for Chelsea as well. But all parties just want this dance to be over with. But neither side wants the other to take the lead away from them.
So they have kept waltzing trying to jockey for position. Chelsea want the manager they know is theirs and who wants to be theirs. They also want practically the entire coaching staff. Derby County do not want to be left in Chelsea’s position (starting preseason without a coach or coaching staff) and they want compensation for each person that departs. They surely also want their next manager lined up. If that person is at another club, then that club will want to line someone up as well.
And thus Chelsea finds themselves at the end of a long chain. They will be able to pull their piece off in time but when is still a matter of “within 48 hours”.
Hopefully, all the clubs are in the endgame now. Chelsea needs their rallying figure going into one of the most difficult seasons in recent memory. It will be Lampard, hopefully on Monday morning walking into Cobham. The wait has been painfully long. Fans are sick of waking up and asking themselves “is today the day?”. The ball has to come down soon as the preseason begins. Any 48 hours from now, surely.