Chelsea: Understanding the anatomy of a modern midseason sacking

Chelsea and Frank Lampard are staring off the cliff’s edge. Before doing anything, the club needs to recognize what a modern midseason sacking looks like.

Chelsea is obviously not new to the whole sacking business. Just since Roman Abramovich became the owner, the Blues have seen 14 managerial stints (both full time and on a long term interim basis) in 17 years. The longest anyone has lasted under the Russian’s reign has been Jose Mourinho’s first stint for just over three seasons.

Frank Lampard’s situation is the most unique. He was the only manager brave enough to come into Chelsea for the transfer ban and he did fantastic work. It simply is not acknowledged enough that he took several players that had only played in the Championship the year prior and integrated them into the first team while achieving top four. That was then though. This is now.

Now Chelsea has used their pile of cash and an opportunity when no one else could really buy to strengthen the side. Top four would have been a minimum regardless but now there is a financial attachment to that. If Champions League comes under serious threat, Lampard’s days will be numbered. But before the club does anything, they really need to understand what a modern midseason sacking looks like.

Chelsea is familiar with sackings but it has been a minute since they had a midseason sacking. Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte both got close, but Jose Mourinho was the last. For the most part, midseason sackings for Chelsea means the appointment of an interim. Guus Hiddink came in then but he really had nothing to lose. Five years on, the landscape is simply different.

No matter what, Chelsea still needs top four this season. But if they are willing to sack Lampard, they also need a manager that can do what Lampard was tasked to do: close (and eventually surpass) the gap created by Manchester City and Liverpool. If that manager is available now, the Blues will go for them. But that manager isn’t.

The two most often mentioned, Max Allegri and Thomas Tuchel, would be stop gap solutions. The main thing in their favor is simply that they have no job right now. But Allegri would be uninspiring on the pitch and it would only be a matter of time before he fought with the board. Tuchel, meanwhile, would be the worst on the field traits of Maurizio Sarri (possession without penetration) and the worst off the field traits of Antonio Conte. Furthermore, when Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain fans are both happy to see the back of him despite what he did for both, that is usually a clue to steer clear.

So if the options available now are poor, the only real option is to wait until the summer. The question is how? Is there a coach at the club that could be the interim for the remainder of the season? Regardless, top four has to be a must, not a goal. An interim would be no more likely to achieve that than Lampard.

On top of all that, Lampard’s struggles aren’t much different than Mikel Arteta’s or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s this very season. Both had terrible periods but one club currently sits tied for first and the other sits three points below Chelsea. Barely a month ago, both were on the verge of a sack like Lampard might be now. Their clubs held the faith, knowing that midseason options were few and far between, and they were rewarded for that faith.

Simply put, there is no reason to sack in the middle of a season now unless there is nothing to lose with an interim (i.e., Hiddink replacing Mourinho) or there is an obvious option that works well with the club (i.e., Jurgen Klopp replacing Brendan Rodgers). If neither is true, the modern game shows that it is best to stick with the current manager.

Whether or not Chelsea and Roman Abramovich see that lesson or not remains to be seen. Top four must be obtained this season simply because of how much Chelsea shelled out but also because of the financial burden every club is facing this season. As it stands, without an option to move the club forward that isn’t implosive, Lampard is the man to back. But if there are any more slip ups in the top four race, Abramovich may have no other choice but to risk it all for an interim and wait till the summer.