Chelsea: Frank Lampard feeling the predictable media heat

Frank Lampard had a feisty pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup tie against Luton Town. Well, welcome to the world of managing Chelsea Football Club. It will come as no surprise to someone who has been a part of the club for so long but Blues managers tend to come under pressure from the media before the club’s hierarchy finally pull the trigger on their time in charge.

Of course, as fans, we’ve seen this all before, the narrative is already there. We know it and most certainly those that make their living reporting it, know it. Since Roman Abramovich took over the club, a Chelsea manager can expect no more than three years in the hottest of hot seats. Jose Mourinho managed just over three years in his first spell and Lampard will be hoping to exceed that.

The vast majority of fans will be hoping for that too but the signs currently aren’t good and the media are sharpening their knives looking to instigate the end-game. Speaking as a fan of the club for the best part of 50 years, Chelsea has never been particularly liked in the press or by supporters of other clubs. As Lampard has himself said Chelsea are his club and he’ll know that antipathy exists too.

Of course, questions have to be asked and it has to be said performances on the field recently have been less than inspiring but as we all know these are difficult times. Let’s not forget though that Chelsea was on a run of seventeen games unbeaten a couple of months ago.

Lampard may or may not have taken umbrage with the wrong person yesterday but he clearly feels some of the reporting has been less than benevolent. The line of questioning from the start of yesterday’s presser concerned what was going wrong and when it would come good. As ever with Chelsea the clear focus was the negative.

No one asked of injured players or potential starters for Sunday. The rush to gain social media clicks or paywall subscriptions matters far more to those inquisitors than Lampard’s well-being as a person. The inquests that follow games inevitably follow the same line. Channeling his inner Mourinho in a pre-match presser may not sit well with some but clearly Lampard knows what the agenda is and he has every right to fight his corner.

Having begun his managerial career with the club in the midst of a transfer ban, he, along with Jody Morris and Joe Edwards did what every other manager before has been castigated for not doing. The three amigos gave ‘kids’ from the youth academy more playing time than anyone else in the modern era. That was lauded throughout last season and despite the convoluted nature of it Champions League football was achieved.

With the pandemic still raging this season the honeymoon period is certainly over. A raft of new players to integrate have only made Lampard’s job more difficult, a lack of pre-season added to those troubles. He’ll not be wanting sympathy, but there are mitigating circumstances at work here and then there’s lady luck. There have been decisions and incidents in games that could have gone in Chelsea’s favor. All of this adds to a frustration that can’t be itched.

Lampard is not without fault though and that’s something else that he must accept. He’s intelligent enough to do so but he’s on a steep learning curve and having others question his decisions every three or four days when he is doing the same himself is not helpful.

Yesterday may have been naive on Lampard’s part or it may have been an attempt to instill a sense of siege mentality amongst his squad. Personally, I think the latter. Perhaps, we’ll find that out in the coming weeks if he’s still around.