Super Frank Lampard

[Keitha313]

On 28/01/2020 at 09:28, enigma said:

I just can't believe the board has once again sat on their hands until the last few days of the window. If we don't make top four, we are going to struggle in summer to recruit any decent players.

What player will want to come to a top club who have missed the CL three times out of the last five seasons. Doesn't bode well for the future, does it. 

Appealed the transfer ban which was good that the club proved that they weren't as guilty as the FA accused the club of, but I have to agree with you. Maybe its Granovskaia at fault here, the way we chop and change from targets i.e. we wait until 2 weeks in the January window to actually get a move on we look at Cavani and Dembele then seemingly give up, boom now we're apparently looking at Piatek and Mertens with a few days left. It just looks so disorganised and I have to say I feel sorry for Giroud who has done nothing but been a good servant for this club who hasn't had a single chance in months! I wouldn't hold anything against Giroud for wanting to join Spurs he won the club the EL.

We ain't signing s*** this window, what a pity because we definitely need some reinforcements to try and secure a top 4 place.

[Bluesince66]

I'm gobsmacked how inept our board is at times,but I suppose it's part of the rollercoaster ride you get being a Chelsea supporter. 

[evissy]

I think this is a massive pressure off Frank. He has no signings and the window is as good as shut. Concentrate on what you have.

[Ballack & Blu]

Wouldn't surprise me if this starts to soothe seeds of doubt in Lampard at Chelsea, if they won't back him or help this f**king legend of a man, who would they back, completely amateurish approach, we now have a football strategy similar to Spurs, without the shiny modern new stadium, we are starting to punch well above our weight, whilst a team like Liverpool have massively stepped up, and overtaken us...

[Bluesince66]

21 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

Wouldn't surprise me if this starts to soothe seeds of doubt in Lampard at Chelsea, if they won't back him or help this f**king legend of a man, who would they back, completely amateurish approach, we now have a football strategy similar to Spurs, without the shiny modern new stadium, we are starting to punch well above our weight, whilst a team like Liverpool have massively stepped up, and overtaken us...

It will just be a fight with plenty of other teams to just make top 4,surely the board can't expect much more than that.

[Ballack & Blu]

43 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

Wouldn't surprise me if this starts to soothe seeds of doubt in Lampard at Chelsea, if they won't back him or help this f**king legend of a man, who would they back, completely amateurish approach, we now have a football strategy similar to Spurs, without the shiny modern new stadium, we are starting to punch well above our weight, whilst a team like Liverpool have massively stepped up, and overtaken us...

It is supposed to say "Sow seeds of doubt"

[Davey Baby]

Lampard's demeanour in the presser is very disappointing. All season long he's said we'll only bring players in if they're an upgrade on what we've got. He's said we won't buy for the sake of it. Well guess what? We couldn't go out and get that guy. Who did people want, out of interest? Cavani? It wasn't possible. So we did what he said we'd do all along. We didn't buy for the sake of it. What's he unhappy about? He has a damn good squad. Every other manager wants better players but they have to work within certain constraints, and accept it. It seems to me Lampard of late has been trying to distance himself from our poor form. I think it's 14 points from our last 12. This is another way of him deflecting responsibility. As I said in a previous post, this summer he lost Hazard but he inherited a pretty good squad to which was added Kovacic, Pulisic, Zouma, Tomori, James, CHO, Mount and Abraham. It might not be what he wants but what he's got for now and he could be doing a lot worse. After all, there weren't any other Premiership clubs offering him work. It's time for him to show us his managerial talent and get the most out of this squad. That means being positive and making them believe in themselves. That does not mean giving off bad vibes at press conferences. Sorry Frank, you're the manager, if we keep dropping points the way we have been, it ain't nobody's fault but your own. That's the job.

[Gol15]

Lampard has exceeded the initial expectations and because of that I hope that we are lucky enough to at least keep this level and finish 4th.

His best attacking duo is a 21 year old Mount and 22 year old Abraham he's getting the maximum out of them, the third best attacker is Pulisic that is also 21 years old. 

He has all the right to say what he said.

[forbzy]

12 minutes ago, Davey Baby said:

Lampard's demeanour in the presser is very disappointing. All season long he's said we'll only bring players in if they're an upgrade on what we've got. He's said we won't buy for the sake of it. Well guess what? We couldn't go out and get that guy. Who did people want, out of interest? Cavani? It wasn't possible. So we did what he said we'd do all along. We didn't buy for the sake of it. What's he unhappy about? He has a damn good squad. Every other manager wants better players but they have to work within certain constraints, and accept it. It seems to me Lampard of late has been trying to distance himself from our poor form. I think it's 14 points from our last 12. This is another way of him deflecting responsibility. As I said in a previous post, this summer he lost Hazard but he inherited a pretty good squad to which was added Kovacic, Pulisic, Zouma, Tomori, James, CHO, Mount and Abraham. It might not be what he wants but what he's got for now and he could be doing a lot worse. After all, there weren't any other Premiership clubs offering him work. It's time for him to show us his managerial talent and get the most out of this squad. That means being positive and making them believe in themselves. That does not mean giving off bad vibes at press conferences. Sorry Frank, you're the manager, if we keep dropping points the way we have been, it ain't nobody's fault but your own. That's the job.

I watched that interview and don't see much wrong with it to be honest. He was hardly doom and gloom, and I didn't hear him pointing fingers of blame either. He seemed quite realistic and ready to get on with the rest of the season. Good to hear Giroud trained today too. Hopefully that dispels some of the rubbish that was written in the press.

[Ernie_blue]

17 minutes ago, Davey Baby said:

Lampard's demeanour in the presser is very disappointing. All season long he's said we'll only bring players in if they're an upgrade on what we've got. He's said we won't buy for the sake of it. Well guess what? We couldn't go out and get that guy. Who did people want, out of interest? Cavani? It wasn't possible. So we did what he said we'd do all along. We didn't buy for the sake of it. What's he unhappy about? He has a damn good squad. Every other manager wants better players but they have to work within certain constraints, and accept it. It seems to me Lampard of late has been trying to distance himself from our poor form. I think it's 14 points from our last 12. This is another way of him deflecting responsibility. As I said in a previous post, this summer he lost Hazard but he inherited a pretty good squad to which was added Kovacic, Pulisic, Zouma, Tomori, James, CHO, Mount and Abraham. It might not be what he wants but what he's got for now and he could be doing a lot worse. After all, there weren't any other Premiership clubs offering him work. It's time for him to show us his managerial talent and get the most out of this squad. That means being positive and making them believe in themselves. That does not mean giving off bad vibes at press conferences. Sorry Frank, you're the manager, if we keep dropping points the way we have been, it ain't nobody's fault but your own. That's the job.

The squad wasn't that great, Kovacic was awful last year but has looked a different player under Lampard, Zouma hasn't really done much at any club and for me hasn't been that great this season and under any normal season the youngsters wouldn't have been given a chance. Lampard didn't have to play the youngsters and he has to be praised for how he has got them playing, he didn't exactly inherit ready made players. I doubt Sarri or Conte would have given them the same chance or they would be performing at the same level. Lampard could quite as easily have been safe and stuck with Zappa, Giroud, Baka and other rubbish.

Lampard has got us 4th with a good squad but it looks better than it was because he has the youngsters performing well but players like Mount and Abraham are getting tired. Let's also remember Lampard has done this with Rudiger, RLC, Kante and Pulisc having injuries.

Im the first to criticise the way we have been playing lately but if Lampard wanted backup striker then Chelsea should have signed someone, its pretty clear we are lacking in this department in recent games, we have no striker on the bench for when teams sit back. In my opinion Lampard has every right to be p*****

Edited January 31, 2020 by Ernie_blue

[rtwelch]

Hold judgement until the summer. I’m sure he will be backed then. He’s clearly dissapointed as we all are but if the players aren’t there they aren’t there. 

[Davey Baby]

13 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

Im the first to criticise the way we have been playing lately but if Lampard wanted backup striker then Chelsea should have signed someone, its pretty clear we are lacking in this department in recent games, we have no striker on the bench for when teams sit back.

 

Who is this realistic back-up striker we could have signed this window, that would have represented an upgrade, out of interest?

[Guest Sindre]

6 minutes ago, Davey Baby said:

 

Who is this realistic back-up striker we could have signed this window, that would have represented an upgrade, out of interest?

I believe we could have had Mertens if we approached Napoli earlier and gave them time to find a replacement. He's a free agent in six months afterall.

With better planning it would have been doable but they had no time to replace him when we approached them.

[Ernie_blue]

Just now, Davey Baby said:

 

Who is this realistic back-up striker we could have signed this window, that would have represented an upgrade, out of interest?

It's funny as I knew this question coming. You mean an upgrade on Batman? Well nearly any striker in the premiership or championship is an upgrade on Batman. Even Rondon on loan is an upgrade on Batman so IMO it's not hard to find an upgrade. Chelsea have a worldwide scouting network, I'm sure they could find someone on a 6 month loan, China has lots of good players and the league is closed atm. Everyone talked about Cavani, pay the wages and the loan fee, they did with Higuain last year. Giroud leaving would help compensate some of the money. 

When the games come thick and fast I doubt Abraham can cope with playing champions league and league games twice a week, he already looks knackered. I dont feel confident Batman starting big games. My opinion is we are dam lucky to be 6 points ahead in the top 4 at january, if Lampard wants options up front then give him a striker for 6 months to help get top 4 and hopefully a cup run. I know we have been poor the last month and Lampard is to blame for some of that, I have said it myself but honestly I can't believe we are in the position we are this season and I know the other teams are not playing well so let's kick on and get champions league football next season.

[Argo]

3 minutes ago, Sindre said:

I believe we could have had Mertens if we approached Napoli earlier and gave them time to find a replacement. He's a free agent in six months afterall.

With better planning it would have been doable but they had no time to replace him when we approached them.

By the sounds of it ADL wanted far too much for the age and length of contract for Mertens.

Furthermore, I'm as sick of Michy as the next Chelsea fan but in reality the striker market this month is slim pickings, the fact United are to be believed to have enquired about King, Ighalo and Slimani says it all. I'd rather just soldier on with Michy than glance in the direction of any of those three.

[Argo]

3 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

It's funny as I knew this question coming. You mean an upgrade on Batman? Well nearly any striker in the premiership or championship is an upgrade on Batman. 

Signing someone that's not good enough just because they're better than someone else who's not good enough never has nor will be an acceptable excuse to sign someone.

[rtwelch]

Hold judgement until the summer. I’m sure he will be backed then. He’s clearly dissapointed as we all are but if the players aren’t there they aren’t there. 

[Guest Sindre]

1 minute ago, Argo said:

By the sounds of it ADL wanted far too much for the age and length of contract for Mertens.

Furthermore, I'm as sick of Michy as the next Chelsea fan but in reality the striker market this month is slim pickings, the fact United are to be believed to have enquired about King, Ighalo and Slimani says it all. I'd rather just soldier on with Michy than glance in the direction of any of those three.

That could be. But if signing him ended up being the difference between making top 4 and not he'd be worth a lot.

He's a goalscorer and at a whole different level to Batshuayi.

[Ernie_blue]

1 minute ago, Argo said:

Signing someone that's not good enough just because they're better than someone else who's not good enough never has nor will be an acceptable excuse to sign someone.

I know that but the question was who's an upgrade, well most players are which is true.

[Davey Baby]

30 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

It's funny as I knew this question coming. You mean an upgrade on Batman? Well nearly any striker in the premiership or championship is an upgrade on Batman. Even Rondon on loan is an upgrade on Batman so IMO it's not hard to find an upgrade. Chelsea have a worldwide scouting network, I'm sure they could find someone on a 6 month loan, China has lots of good players and the league is closed atm. Everyone talked about Cavani, pay the wages and the loan fee, they did with Higuain last year. Giroud leaving would help compensate some of the money. 

When the games come thick and fast I doubt Abraham can cope with playing champions league and league games twice a week, he already looks knackered. I dont feel confident Batman starting big games. My opinion is we are dam lucky to be 6 points ahead in the top 4 at january, if Lampard wants options up front then give him a striker for 6 months to help get top 4 and hopefully a cup run. I know we have been poor the last month and Lampard is to blame for some of that, I have said it myself but honestly I can't believe we are in the position we are this season and I know the other teams are not playing well so let's kick on and get champions league football next season.

 

That's 2 names. Rondon is in his first season at his new club, probably on ridiculous wages, we can't just go out and get him. Cavani was impossible.

[Davey Baby]

28 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

I know that but the question was who's an upgrade, well most players are which is true.

 

No, the question was who was a realistic upgrade. Slightly different.

[evissy]

[Ernie_blue]

3 minutes ago, Davey Baby said:

 

That's 2 names. Rondon is in his first season at his new club, probably on ridiculous wages, we can't just go out and get him. Cavani was impossible.

How do you know Cavani was impossible? 

[Davey Baby]

40 minutes ago, Argo said:

By the sounds of it ADL wanted far too much for the age and length of contract for Mertens.

 

He's 33 in three months, he'd need time to adapt, Napoli would hold us to ransom whatever the circumstances, and he really ain't all that. I just don't think he's bringing much value to the squad and I don't think he'd be the difference between qualifying or not. If we spent over the odds on this guy the board will get pelters for it later on down the line.

[Guest Sindre]

16 minutes ago, Davey Baby said:

 

No, the question was who was a realistic upgrade. Slightly different.

Haaland, Duvan Zapata, Mandzukic and Paco Alcacer have all moved this window. Everyone would have strengthened us, some for the long-term and some for the short-term like Mandzukic.

And that's just some options from those who have moved already.

Jarrod Bowen is scoring for fun in the championship. Could have been an option too.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Sindre