Frank Lampard has been sacked by Chelsea after just 18 months as head coach.
Blues legend, Lampard enjoyed a good first season in charge at Stamford Bridge, taking the club to the FA Cup final and securing qualification for the Champions League.
However after spending more than £200m on new players in the summer, Chelsea find themselves ninth in the Premier League after 19 games, 11 points behind leaders Manchester United and five points off Liverpool in fourth.
In a statement, the club intimated that it had taken “a very difficult decision, and not one that the owner and the Board have taken lightly.
“We are grateful to Frank for what he has achieved in his time as Head Coach of the Club. However, recent results and performances have not met the Club’s expectations, leaving the Club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement.”
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich added that the decision to sack Lampard was ‘very difficult’ and that he will always remain an ‘important icon’ at the club.
“This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him.
“He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers.
“On behalf of everyone at the Club, the Board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as Head Coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.”
The decision to sack Lampard comes just 24 hours after he led Chelsea to a 3-1 win over Luton Town in the FA Cup.
He also took the side on a 17-game unbeaten run but away defeats to Everton, Wolves, Arsenal and Leicester and a 3-1 home defeat to Manchester City have cost him his job.
Club chairman Bruce Buck watched on with technical and performance advisor Petr Cech as Leicester City ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against Lampard’s side in their most recent league fixture.
The loss to Brendan Rodgers’ men was just the latest of a series of defeats against the Premier League’s best teams, which recently included reverses against Manchester City and Arsenal.
Chelsea have only beaten West Ham of the top 11 clubs this season, while picking up the second-lowest number of points at this stage of a season since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.
Lampard earned 1.67 points per match in the league, which is the lowest of any manager appointed since Abramovich bought Chelsea.
Many media outlets have reported that former Paris Saint-Germain manager, Thomas Tuchel is in line to replace Lampard. The former Borussia Dortmund coach is available after leaving Paris Saint-Germain in December.
Tuchel won the DFB-Pokal in 2017 with Dortmund before a brief but trophy-laden spell in Paris which saw him win two Ligue 1 titles and a French Cup, as well as reaching the final of last season’s Champions League, which they lost to Bayern Munich.
