Frank Lampard has no regrets regarding his second spell at Chelsea as interim head coach but the Blues icon has admitted he could not believe some of the things going on behind the scenes at Cobham.
Lampard's first appointment as Chelsea head coach came in July 2019 after the club had been handed a transfer ban by FIFA. Despite this, Lampard did a fine job during his debut season at Stamford Bridge as part of the coaching staff. The Blues qualified for the Champions League that season despite the obvious limitations the summer before.
However, that led to Lampard's second campaign coming with higher expectations. In January of his second season, the former Chelsea midfielder left the club and in came Thomas Tuchel. Towards the end of the 2022/23 term, Chelsea made the surprise decision to reappoint Lampard on an interim basis following the sacking of Graham Potter.
His second spell at Stamford Bridge, unfortunately, was one of disappointment. In his nine Premier League games as interim boss, Lampard recorded just one win, with six defeats and two draws - something he has now reflected on.
Lampard came into a bit of a mess at Chelsea, with multiple players almost certainly heading for the exit door at the end of the season, as well as players completely devoid of any sort of confidence.
"Even going back to Chelsea as interim, it was a really tough time at the club," Lampard said to Sky Sports. "And I saw a lot of things, and people questioned like, was it the right thing to do?
"I'm absolutely better for the experience of that even though it was six, seven weeks, I saw things there that I know can’t be right at the elite level. And that’s the truth.
"I didn't love working in that short period because it's hard to lay down an idea when you're going to be leaving but Chelsea will always be a massive club in my life.
"But when I understand the standards of Chelsea - in that period of time a lot of players were in transition of maybe leaving and some problems and motivation were a problem - in an interim period you can't really affect that.
"When you see the results of it, I'm experienced enough to know what's right and what's wrong and basic things in a training ground on a pitch.
"I didn't learn anything tactical but it did reinforce my beliefs of all my experiences of when you know what a group is really fighting in the same direction - how strong that can be and when it's not, it can be really challenging."
Now, things are looking rosy for Lampard. Appointed as Coventry City manager back in November, the former Chelsea midfielder is excelling at the Championship club. In the 22 league matches in charge to date, Lampard has won 13 of them, with an impressive 1.91 points per game.
Coventry and Lampard will be desperate to continue such form in the remaining seven matches of the season with a play-off spot up for grabs. Lampard's team are currently fifth in the second tier and while automatic promotion is out of their grasp this season, the Sky Blues lead a mini battle with the likes of West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough, Bristol City, Watford, Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday for a play-off place.
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Chelsea ended the 2023/24 Premier League season on a high, but it is never quiet at Stamford Bridge and the summer looks set to be one full of news, with question marks over Mauricio Pochettino's future at the club and plenty of talk around transfers.
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