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| Caretaker Manager Frank Lampard of Chelsea during a training session at Chelsea Training Ground on April 6, 2023 in Cobham, England. |
Frank
Lampard says he will “focus on the job in hand” after being named
Chelsea’s caretaker manager, rather than trying to land the role full-time.
Lampard has
completed a surprise return to Chelsea for the rest of the season,
replacing the
sacked Graham Potter.
The club say
Lampard will take charge while they carry out an “exhaustive process”
to find a permanent boss.
“I want
to do the best possible role I can and after that we will see what
happens,” the 44-year-old said.“I am
not getting anywhere ahead of myself.”
Lampard, who
has been out of a job since he was dismissed by Everton in January, previously
managed Chelsea from July 2019 until he was sacked in January 2021.
His firstgame will be away to Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday before aChampions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Lampard was
a player at Stamford Bridge when interim boss Roberto di Matteo led the club to
Champions League glory as a caretaker before earning the job on a full-time
basis.
Asked if he
could follow a similar path, the former midfielder said: “It won’t be my
decision so again I don’t want to jump forward to that.“I
understand I will get asked that question a lot. I have my eyes wide open. The
important thing for me is to park that and focus on the job in hand.”
Chelsea are
11th in the Premier League, 14 points behind fourth-placed Manchester United,
despite having spent more than £550m on new players this season.
Announcing
Lampard’s appointment, co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said: “We
want to provide the club and our fans with a clear and stable plan for the
remainder of the season.
“We
want to give ourselves every chance of success and Frank has all of the
characteristics and qualities we need to drive us to the finish line.”
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