Frank Thoughts On The World's Best Midfielder

[Barn]

Just wondered how people are feeling about Frankie Lampard now the season is underway and the contract wrangles are behind us all. There was an awful lot of negative feeling around in the summer, I for one thought he was being totally unreasonable in his contract demands and wanted the club to get rid of him. However, yet again he has stepped up and if possible seems to have taken his game on again this season (albeit early days still), a freind said that Deco was quoted somewhere as saying that Lamps in the best player he's ever played alongside, claiming also that he makes the rest of the team look good by regularly getting on the end of wayward passes (I've asked for the interview where he said this).

Anyway for my part as I say I wanted shot in the summer, but I'm glad now we didn't get rid but it does still leave question marks over our future contract negotiations. When a player works out we loose site of the fact that they pushed the club further than the club should have gone, what if Frank had been injured all season (or off form), would we have blamed the club for giving into him?

Just another thought, when his legs start to go - it's important because it's such a massive part of his game at the moment - will he have the capabilities to carry on playing at the top level and proving a benefit?

Thoughts on a postcard please.

[midlandblue]

Frank is a true pro, regardless of what he may or may not have demanded in the summer, when the time came and he was asked to pull the blue shirt on he gave 100%

and long may it continue.

[loz]

I said before that I was never convinced that it was about money for Frank and more that he had decided he wanted to have a crack at playing abroad (and most probably for Joe at Inter). I don't think he wanted to put in a transfer request as I think he mistakenly thought the Chelsea fans would turn on him for it so he went down the route of demanding massive money so that the club would decide to sell him instead (of course I am fully aware I could be totally wrong about all of this!!)

Once the interest in him from abroad was never really firmed up he maybe began to realise quite how good he had it at Chelsea and the fact that the club were willing to pay the massive amount he asked for made it a pretty easy decision for him to make.

The money he is on is always going to make most punters feel sick however to be honest the money any Chelsea player makes makes me sick! Even the worst player in the first team earns far more in a week then I do in a year!

On purely footballing grounds I am delighted we still have him and delighted that he is showing the form that has probably eluded him in the past 18 months or so.

[Tim W]

I thought he was a money grabbing git and still do. His performances don't match his pay packet in my opinion and never will.

[Liam]

He's been the best player in premiership this season by a good distance and is now the complete modern midfielder. I am delighted he stayed and the wranglings over the summer are irrelevant.

Regarding his legs I'm certain he can adapt and continue to be effective into the future as it is not so much the pace of his runs but the timing which makes him so effective. That sense of timing should never desert him.

[midlandblue]

I thought he was a money grabbing git and still do. His performances don't match his pay packet in my opinion and never will.

and what kind of performance would match his pay packet? in your opinion.

[BlueBeard]

I thought he was a money grabbing git and still do. His performances don't match his pay packet in my opinion and never will.

Totally agree, though his performances so far this season have been far better than his last two seasons. The business with his contract during the summer means that no matter what he does from here on in, he'll never be a Chelsea legend as far as I'm concerned.

[BLUENUT]

at the risk of sounding repetative.......''player of the year'' so far!

[Gem]

None of us know what happened in the Summer, we always see the negative or jump to the club's defence.

Lamps is a true Chelsea legend in my opinion.

[Tim W]

and what kind of performance would match his pay packet? in your opinion.

I'm not directing my views particularly at Frank it's the whole football circus, yet Frank entered the ring during the summer and in doing so made himself a fair target for the likes of me who, in a sweeping generalisation, believes all football players are overpaid and answering your question, no performance can ever justify paying someone tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, it's obscene.

[Alan]

None of us know what happened in the Summer, we always see the negative or jump to the club's defence.

Lamps is a true Chelsea legend in my opinion.

My thoughts exactly.

For me, Frank already is a Chelsea legend and should be remembered as such when he does finally hang up his boots.

[Chippy]

Its hard to look at the money these players earn without just thinking "I'd be happy to run my legs off for the team for nothing"

that said Frank was on an excellent wage and I thought last season that he should have just signed the contract, with all the upheaval at the club he could have steadied the ship with some commitment.

Frank is a great player and its good to have a core of English players in an English Club (for me) so I am glad he signed and hope he carries on the good form he has come into.

as for Legend, to me Legend status is more something to look back on fondly when a player has finished his career and is also gained by seeing how he conducts himself after his days at the club and should he join a rival after his time here...

The thought of calling him a legend and seeing a big upheaval next season which sees him go elswhere and do a Poyet (although unlikely) fills me with dread and for this reason alone I would reserve the Legend tag for later down the road.

[Tim W]

as for Legend, to me Legend status is more something to look back on fondly when a player has finished his career and is also gained by seeing how he conducts himself after his days at the club and should he join a rival after his time here...

Have to agree there Chippy, yet in my eyes none of the present side will ever becomes legends purely because the money issue clouds their reasons for wanting to play for the club.

[mad_mac]

Not even JT who came through the ranks, and although he stalled a little on his contract, was never as public as Frank was. I think that the whole Frank deal was blown out of proportion by the papers, and the fact that he had such a bond with jose!

I think Frank is well on his way to be a legend for Chelsea, his goals against Bolton to win us the Leagues. his CL goal against barca, his playing right after his mother died. Regardless of pay, I think he is a tremendous footballer and we are lucky to have him. I think he is the most complete midfielder in the prem. Simple as

Scott

[midlandblue]

Have to agree there Chippy, yet in my eyes none of the present side will ever becomes legends purely because the money issue clouds their reasons for wanting to play for the club.

So the day of the footaball legend has gone forever because of their salary?

[Nibs]

So the day of the footaball legend has gone forever because of their salary?

When put like that, to a certain extent then I would say yes.

As it’s already been said, players are not normally looked upon as legends until the latter stages of their careers or their playing days are over. To achieve legend status, a player (as well as being f**king good!), would normally have had to show a fair amount of loyalty and a love for the club. We have had a number of players in recent years who could tick all these boxes but then the crucial question is, how many of those players would have stuck by CFC if we were not a top club, paying top wages and playing in the Champions League every season? Us fans like to have the notion that all the players are here because they love the club, when of course deep down, we know that’s probably not the case.

As for the money these guys are on nowadays, it is more than obscene – especially in the current climate. We just accept it that the top players earn more in a month than most of us earn over a number of years. It’s totally crazy – no matter how good they might be. I think we used to be able to relate to players because they seemed like one of us but they were lucky to be doing something we all dreamed of – playing professional football for our club. The likes of Chopper, Ossie, Hutch and the likes of Dixon and Wee Pat all loved their football and came across as loving Chelsea – despite the lack of success. And okay, with perhaps a big house and a flash car, they would be better off than the average punter, but that was accepted and we could still relate to them. When I say flash car, we’re probably talking a Jag or a Lotus (I can remember seeing Wee Pat in his green MGB GT!) not the fleet of Ferrari’s, Bentley’s, etc etc.

Anyone know what car Malouda drives? I don’t think I want to know, as his performances for us warrant no more than a f**king Lada.

[midlandblue]

I think Malouda drives a noddy car, thats if he can drive, he probably gets a nose bleed if he goes any faster than 10 miles an hour, but I guess we will never know.

I can understand people resenting players for the obscene amounts of money they recieve in comparison to yesteryear, but what can they do about it? It's the way the game is. When Frank joined us we were on the way up, not exactly setting the world on fire and he decicded to come to us, yes, we paid top dollar for him but the potential was there. He had no idea that Roman was just around the corner with a wad of money that has forever changed our club, what was he supposed to do? Leave?

Frank is/will be a legend for his effort to the cause, his amazing goal scoring record, his long run of games without so much as a sneeze, his dignity after the death of his mother.

But most of all....because he loves the club and those who follow it.

this could be the new Jimmy debate

;)

[Barn]

I read the "Kings of the Kings Road" book was really supprised at the number of times particularly Osgood talked about the fact that they earned substantially more money than the punters that they were entertaining ever could. It's interesting that these days players are hated for earning obscene money, I would ask some of the older posters if that was always the case, or is it just a case of the players now being so far removed from the real world that's the true problem, if that's the case is it not society that's got a problem? Rich people have always existed but those less fortunate have not always been quite so blatantly interested/jealous/desperate to join them (legally or illegally). For me the bigger problem is not that footballers earn astronomical wages (that said I do hope the buble bursts soon) but that the man on the street (or more often the woman on the street) is so obsesed with what other people have got, that is to blame for the gulf between players and fans. How can a go player out a mix with fans any more?

I think most of the current team will go down as legends (by the majority), they have given us/our club the success that it craved for more years than most of us can count. As long as they don't do something to drastically ruin that we will love them and hold them as legends regardless of how much money they've earned in doing so.

[Nibs]

I read the "Kings of the Kings Road" book was really supprised at the number of times particularly Osgood talked about the fact that they earned substantially more money than the punters that they were entertaining ever could. It's interesting that these days players are hated for earning obscene money,

But that's the difference Barn. They might have earned substantially more years ago. Now we are talking obscene amounts.

I would love to see accurate figures but I don't have time to put in the research at the moment. I'm sure I recall reading that back in the mid 70's the average UK wage was approx £3,750 whereas a top footballer could be on around £500 per week (£26,000). That's 600% more. What's the average wage now - perhaps £25-£30K? Compare that to the £100k-£150K a week Lamps etc are on so that's £5.2 - £7.8m a year. That's so much more % wise I can't even be bothered to reach for my calculator.

But as you can say - that's the going rate so what can we do? But with this "Global Recession" maybe even for footballers the bubble has to burst?

[BlueBeard]

I read the "Kings of the Kings Road" book was really supprised at the number of times particularly Osgood talked about the fact that they earned substantially more money than the punters that they were entertaining ever could. It's interesting that these days players are hated for earning obscene money, I would ask some of the older posters if that was always the case, or is it just a case of the players now being so far removed from the real world that's the true problem, if that's the case is it not society that's got a problem?

So far as I can remember, round about the time I started work as a 15 year-old apprentice tha average working man's wage was about £80 to £100 a week (builders, skilled factory workers, etc...) Round about that time, I believe first division footballers were getting around £200/£250 a week. As I say, I'm not at all sure about these figures, but for some reason they have stayed in my head ever since that time

So basically footballers back then were getting about twice as much as an ordinary working man or maybe a bit more. If the same were true today, a top footballer in this country would be getting about £1000/£1500 a week. I know my figures aren't exact but they're not far off - and using those figures, someone like Lampard is about 150 times better off than the players in Peter Osgood's era.

It's not just the money either - nowadays young players are associated with a club from a ridiculously early age and by the time most Premiership players make the first team they've never done a real day's work in their life and have had a fairly sheltered existence. Peter Osgood worked as a brickie's apprentice while still playing for the youth team - and had to make his own way from Windsor to Hendon for training every day. Most players had jobs either before they joined a club or while they were a youth player - David Speedie worked as a coalminer ffs!

This isn't the only reason that a lot of people of my age group have more respect for players from that era, but it partly explains it - todays players are pampered beyond belief from a very young age and have nothing in common at all with the average fan. Mind you, with todays prawn-sandwich munching w*nkers* taking over from real fans, the 'supporters' are quickly catching the players up.

* - "prawn-sandwich munching w*nkers" doesn't refer to all of todays fans, but we all know who I mean ;)

[Barn]

I fully understand what you're saying but the gap between well paid proffessions and the not so well paid is growing at an astounding rate, the fact that football remains at the top end is no suprise at it has caused the game to become more distanced from the real fans. But it's not the players fault, if you're a proffessional you would rarely have grown up in the sort of environment where you can really support a team because from the age of usually about 11 when you would generally start going to watch football, you'll be linked to a club (often not the club that you might have gone to watch) and you'll be playing/training all weekend. Players show a lack of loyalty in the main but so do clubs, the only loyalty out there is the fans (and even that's changing!), legends status should be based on what a player does for a club and the way they conduct themselves on behalf of that club.

[BlueBeard]

legends status should be based on what a player does for a club and the way they conduct themselves on behalf of that club.

I agree - and in my opinion Lampard's reluctance to sign a new contract for well over a year casts a shadow over his so-called loyalty to the club.

As has already been stated, none of us knows the exact details of what went on, but everybody has their own thoughts on the matter. I may be cynical, but I just don't buy into the 'Frank loves Chelsea' line, especially after the business with his contract. Others are of the opinion that the sun shines out of Frank's arse and he can never do any wrong - each to their own.

[Kerry]

As has already been stated, none of us knows the exact details of what went on, but everybody has their own thoughts on the matter.

According to Jose Mourinho, Frank promised to leave Chelsea and join Inter after his contract has expired, but then afterwards, changed his mind and signed the new contract. Well we know that Jose needn't to tell the truth but if part of what he's said is real, then this is no proof of loyalty. Exactly the contrary

[ethicalstrategy]

I agree - and in my opinion Lampard's reluctance to sign a new contract for well over a year casts a shadow over his so-called loyalty to the club.

As has already been stated, none of us knows the exact details of what went on, but everybody has their own thoughts on the matter. I may be cynical, but I just don't buy into the 'Frank loves Chelsea' line, especially after the business with his contract. Others are of the opinion that the sun shines out of Frank's arse and he can never do any wrong - each to their own.

Is it impossible to earn a lot of money and to love playing for your club? The two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

I'm under no illusions that Frank seriously considered leaving to go to Inter last summer. As it turned out he didn't for what ever reason. One thing is for sure, he acted in what he felt were his own best interests. I don't have a problem with that. It certainly doesn't diminish what he has given to the club.

Of course, as you say, everyone is entitled to view things as they wish, but I do find it somewhat churlish to discard out of hand the massive contribution that Frank has made to Chelsea over the last 7 years simply because he thought about taking on a new challenge.

[BlueBeard]

Is it impossible to earn a lot of money and to love playing for your club? The two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

I'm under no illusions that Frank seriously considered leaving to go to Inter last summer. As it turned out he didn't for what ever reason. One thing is for sure, he acted in what he felt were his own best interests. I don't have a problem with that. It certainly doesn't diminish what he has given to the club.

Of course, as you say, everyone is entitled to view things as they wish, but I do find it somewhat churlish to discard out of hand the massive contribution that Frank has made to Chelsea over the last 7 years simply because he thought about taking on a new challenge.

Where the f*ck did I say anything about it being "impossible to 'earn' a lot of money and to love playing for your club"??? And if Lampard 'loved' playing for his club so much, why would he 'seriously consider leaving to go to Inter'? Contrast him to the last Chelsea player who I'd consider a legend, Gianfranco Zola - he earned sh*tloads of money then left to finish his career at Cagliari - I had no problem with that because that was the club he loved most, and most of us respected him for it.

Seems to me that for some people, Lampard can do no wrong. Even when he was out of form for two years a lot of people wouldn't hear a word against him, yet if another player has a handful of off games he's put throught the wringer - it's quite pathetic really. Some even praise him for attempting to take free kicks when it's perfectly clear that he's f*ckin' sh*te at them. Credit where it's due though, his corner taking has improved this season. Maybe if his consistency improved I'd feel a bit different, but the way he was virtually invisible on Sunday really pissed me off - and that certainly wasn't the first time that he's gone missing.

There are a fair few players over the 40 years I've been watching the club who I'd consider to be Chelsea legends. For me there is no cut and dried recipe for legendary status, it's a personal thing. Players like Ossie, Chopper, Hollins & Bonetti are obvious legends to someone like me. Less explainable is the fact I consider Mickey Thomas to be a Chelsea legend - after all, he only spent about 18 months at the club and made just over 50 appearances - but in my eyes he brought something to the club that we hadn't had for many years at that time, incredible skill, excitement, humour, unpredictability, and a 'f*ck you' mentality which had been sorely missing from our squad for ages.

Lampard is nowhere near any of the players I consider Chelsea legends at the moment, but that's not just a statement against him, the same goes for the entire current squad - for me, John Terry is closest, but I don't feel he's quite there yet.

If all that makes me 'churlish', tough sh*t - I'm not asking you or anyone else to agree with me, just giving my opinion.