Lampard doesn’t fear sack threat at Chelsea & expects to be judged ‘harshly’ despite legend status

Frank Lampard does not fear the threat of getting sacked at Chelsea and expects to be judged “harshly and very quickly” if things go wrong despite being a club legend.

A Blues icon returned to Stamford Bridge during the summer of 2019.

He responded to a managerial SOS call after seeing Maurizio Sarri head through the exits in west London and head back to Italy.

Lampard had little coaching experience of which to speak, having spent just one season in charge at Derby, but embraced the opportunity to head back to familiar surroundings.

He has delivered a top-four finish and FA Cup final appearance during a second spell at Chelsea, while a Premier League title challenge is being mooted for 2020-21.

Expectation around the Blues has built following a summer of big spending, with Lampard aware that he is under pressure to deliver.

He will not be buckling under that weight, or changing his ways to meet the demands of others, and expects to be handled the same way by Roman Abramovich as any other boss that has gone before him.

Lampard told BBC Sport’s ‘No Passion, No Point’ podcast: “The lucky thing for me, without trying to sound too comfortable, is my football career put me in a decent position.

“So, if that job is taken away from me, as long as I go in with every minute thinking, ‘Can I do the best job?’ I genuinely think if it got taken away from me, you get the sack, you can’t get another job – if I’ve done the best as I can, I will be pretty happy.  

“I’ll be disappointed and look back at the million things I could have done better, but as it stands now, what’s in front of me, I’m thinking about our next game.”

Lampard added on landing a top-flight opportunity in west London: “Not many people get a job at Chelsea after one year at Derby.

“It’s clear playing 13 years at the club helped me get the job, but also in my own way I think I deserve it for the years I put in as a player and I’ve taken things on board and I know the club and I’m going to absolutely do my best to do well so I think in that situation I understand the pitfalls.  

“I had to put my ego at the door a bit and say I might ruin what might have been achieved in 13 years to a degree because if it doesn’t go well I will be judged harshly and very quickly.”

Lampard took in Premier League title success and a Champions League triumph as a player at Chelsea.

His intention is to emulate those efforts as a manager, but he is eager to point out that he is not in the coaching game for life.

The 42-year-old former England international said: “If, hopefully, I have a successful career I will sit down and I will go back on those memories and they will become a bit more vivid. And I will sit down with my family and be a bit more fun where as now I’m not so much fun because I’m consumed in my job.  

“Because I don’t want that to be an absolute lifer. I think there will be a shelf life because it is a very high-pressured job that I’m in, but at the minute I feed off it, I love it.  

“What I do know with my job, the sacrifices you make for family and for your kids growing up is something that I see, maybe not in my 50s, but towards the 60s – I’d love to make it that far, God willing for all of us – I would love to maybe come off it a bit.”