While Frank Lampard certainly found success as a player at Chelsea (he’s the club’s all-time leading scorer), he didn’t really succeed too much as their manager.
He won over half of his matches at Stamford Bridge and he did lead them to a FA Cup final, but he never came close to matching the kind of expectations that owner Roman Abramovich puts in place.
Perhaps Newcastle United will give him another chance, and Lampard can redeem himself there. According to The Sun, Lampard, who also managed Derby County, is the favorite to take over if/when Steve Bruce gets sacked.
Right now, SunSport claims that Bruce “met new part-owner Amanda Staveley for the first time on Monday and is still clinging on to his job after talks.”
While international breaks are very slow news periods, the Saudi Arabian group taking over Newcastle was utterly massive, on multiple levels. With a new ownership group in place, it is thought that Bruce’s days are numbered.
Certainly he is not doing himself any favors with the run of results he’s produced- the Magpies are yet to record a league win this season and they currently sit second from bottom in the standings.
In addition to Lampard, other managers potentially in frame to succeed Bruce include Eddie Howe, Antonio Conte, Steven Gerrard and Graham Potter. Lampard might make the most sense however, and there has already been talk of the club trying to acquire Christian Pulisic, and reunite the American with his former Blues boss.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
He co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.