Chelsea should give Frank Lampard more time – they will never have a better chance to show a manager patience
A crisis is never far away for a Premier League manager, as Frank Lampard is finding out at Chelsea.
Less than a month ago, all looked rosy for Lampard: two points off the top of the table and 17 games unbeaten in all competitions.
Now, following Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City, his credentials are being questioned all over again.
Just four points from the last six matches has left Lampard the current favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked.
To put that into perspective, he’s a shorter price than the man presiding over the worst start to an English top-flight season, Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder.
That, of course, is as much to do with Chelsea’s notorious lack of patience as Lampard’s perceived shortcomings.
But it is still perverse. The Blues are still in a strong position: three points off the Champions League places and into the last 16 of this year’s competition.
More than that, there are compelling reasons why this particular manager and this season demand a more long-term view.
Lampard can turn it around quickly
First off, there is much more leeway for dropping points this campaign as even the very best sides are doing so.
Leaders Liverpool have 33 points from 16 games. This time last year they had 46, the previous season they had 42 and in 2017-18 leaders Manchester City also had 46.
The Premier League is much more open, so it is far easier to make up lost ground and turn a slump on its head.
Two other relative rookie managers can attest to that.
A fortnight ago it was Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta bound for the scrapheap. Three wins in a row later, that fretting looks like it may have been premature.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, meanwhile, seems to bounce from one crisis to another at Manchester United, yet his team are level on points with Liverpool.
When clubs, especially big ones, take on inexperienced coaches they have to expect bumps in the road. It’s part of the learning process.
If those clubs are not prepared for that, then they should have hired other, more decorated – and more costly – managers instead.
If ever there was a season when tolerance of mistakes is greater then this is surely it, and not just because all teams are dropping points.
Without supporters in stadiums, players and managers are being spared the boos and tangible discontent that poor runs bring.
They will still be criticised, but at the moment they are insulated to a degree.
That is even more true for Lampard than most.
His legend status at Chelsea means there is more tolerance of his slip-ups among fans and fellow former players.
In short, Lampard has an easier ride than most faltering managers – and that means he has better conditions in which to turn it around.
Isn’t this a long-term project?
He also has good will in the bank from a very creditable first campaign in charge and a good start to the current one.
And of course Lampard has achieved something that no other Chelsea manager in the Roman Abramovich era has.
He has blooded and integrated several young talents from the club’s outstanding academy, such as Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Reece James.
These players have blossomed into England internationals. Without Lampard they might have been allowed to wither and leave.
Are Chelsea really going to cast all that long-awaited progress aside in the search for a quick fix?
If hiring a former player with minimal experience to mould a new team with youth at its core isn’t a long-term project then what is?
If Chelsea and Abramovich really do have any inclination to try to build a dynasty under Lampard then they have to back him now.
Chelsea must decide what they want to be
Yes, their current form is bad but managers shouldn’t be sacked on the basis of one bad month.
Lampard has also been criticised for blaming players in defeat, although that has hardly harmed Jose Mourinho’s track record.
More understandable are complaints that £200m of summer signings including Timo Werner and Kai Havertz are yet to flourish.
Finding the balance between his array of attacking talents is a delicate task, however, that more seasoned managers might struggle with, too.
Abramovich might reasonably argue that his hire-and-fire tactics have served him well.
Since his 2003 takeover, Chelsea have won five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and three major European trophies.
This is why the club faces a fundamental decision about what it wants to stand for.
If short-term results are everything, then Lampard’s days will be numbered unless he turns results on their head again.
But if Chelsea have aspirations of creating something more meaningful, with the club’s heritage at its heart, then they should wait.
They will never have a better chance to show it.