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<\/a><\/p>\nLONDON (Reuters) – When Chelsea came calling Frank Lampard admits it was an “easy decision” to accept a caretaker manager role back at a club where he set records, won multiple trophies and was eventually sacked.<\/p>\n
The 44-year-old was confirmed as the club’s interim manager on Thursday in the wake of Graham Potter’s dismissal — giving him an unexpected chance to reclaim the Stamford Bridge hotseat.<\/p>\n
Lampard, who scored a record 211 goals in all competitions for the club and won 13 trophies as a player, was dismissed as manager in January 2021 after 84 games in charge and replaced by Thomas Tuchel.<\/p>\n
But the soccer merry-go-round saw Tuchel sacked in September and then his replacement Potter parted ways last week with the London club 11th in the Premier League standings.<\/p>\n
Lampard has been tasked with stabilising the ship while the club’s co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali choose a long-term appointment.<\/p>\n
Whether or not Lampard himself becomes an option depends very much on what impact he has on a seriously under-performing squad that cost hundreds of millions of pounds to assemble but has won only 10 of 29 league games.<\/p>\n
For Lampard, however, having the chance to return to what he described as “my club” was an offer he could not refuse.<\/p>\n
“It was a pretty easy decision for me,” Lampard told reporters. “This is my club in terms of my playing career and having managed and coached here before.<\/p>\n
“I’m delighted and thankful for the people that have given me that opportunity, I’m confident in myself, I have a good understanding of the squad, the training ground, the stadium and the fans. I’ll do my utmost to give them what they want.”<\/p>\n
Asked if the role could become permanent, Lampard said he “would not get ahead of himself” and was focussed only on impacting the squad in the best way possible.<\/p>\n
“After that we’ll see what happens,” he added.<\/p>\n
Since Chelsea’s change of ownership they have spent around 600 million pounds ($746 million) on players in two transfer windows and Lampard admits finding the right blend is a “big challenge”.<\/p>\n
“Modern football has big squads and Chelsea is at the top end of that and I remember being here before I had lots of difficult decisions to make,” the former midfielder said.<\/p>\n
“We don’t want to be 11th but that’s the reality. There is a lot of talent in this squad and I have a clear idea about what I want to achieve in this period.”<\/p>\n
“The good thing for me is that everyone can have a clean slate right now and show in training what they can do.”<\/p>\n
Lampard begins his second stint in charge away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, when one of his tasks will be to solve Chelsea’s goalscoring woes.<\/p>\n
They have managed only 29 goals in 29 games.<\/p>\n
“There is no genius answer for a coach to explain about scoring goals,” Lampard said. “Fortunately it was a big part of my game and I’m not comparing but it’s about understanding the mindset to be aggressive and cold-hearted to want to score.”<\/p>\n
While Chelsea’s hopes of challenging for a top-four finish are remote, they are still in the Champions League and face a quarter-final first leg away to holders Real Madrid next week.<\/p>\n
Lampard was part of the team that won the Champions League in 2012 under then interim coach Roberto Di Matteo.<\/p>\n
“Real Madrid’s a huge club and a fantastic team so I’m not going to start talking about semi-finals or finals. Of course I’m happy to be fighting in the competition again,” he said.<\/p>\n
($1 = 0.8043 pounds)<\/p>\n
\n(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Edting by Toby Davis)<\/p>\n
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