Barely has Frank Lampard vacated the Chelsea hot seat and there’s already been a prediction on how long new incoming manager Thomas Tuchel’s appointment will be good for.
The former PSG boss is set to be appointed as the new Chelsea manager after Frank Lampard was sacked by Roman Abramovich on Monday following a poor run of games in the Premier League.
Quickly driving home the point about the Chelsea hierarchy’s cold-blooded hire-and-fire policy, Gary Neville has given his prediction over when Thomas Tuchel will be sacked as Chelsea manager following his appointment as the new head coach at Stamford Bridge following the dismissal of Frank Lampard.
Club chief Roman Abramovich made the decision to sack the Blues legend on Monday after a run of two Premier League wins in eight matches, including losses to Arsenal, Everton
Reports of bickering behind the scenes between the players, coaches and club officials had been circulating, culminating in the sacking of Lampard 18 months into his three-year contract.
How long Tuchel’s contract will be remains to be determined, with reports it could be up to four years with an option for a fifth.
However Sky Sports pundit Neville believes the former Paris Saint-Germain manager will get nowhere near that time at Chelsea, saying:
“It’s Chelsea, and that’s what Chelsea do. Frank is not a victim of his poor performance as a manager.
“He’s just someone who’s been exposed to Chelsea’s model of releasing and employing managers every 12 to 18 months if things don’t go as well as they want. That’s a pretty high standard that they live to.
“I don’t worry for Frank. I’m sure he’ll go on to have a great managerial career as I feel he handled himself fantastically well in that job. It’s a tough job and he’s done well at it.
“Tuchel will be exposed to exactly the same rules as Frank.
“We’ll be talking about him being let go in the next 18 months to two years, I’m pretty sure of that.”
Fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp has also voiced his sympathy for Lampard, admitting he is surprised by Chelsea’s decision.
He said:
“I feel with someone like Frank, who understands that club better than anybody, he knew when he took the job it was the price on the ticket.
“He knew there would come a time when he would be under pressure due to poor results.
“Before December, they were on a 17-game unbeaten run, but he knew there would be times when he would come under pressure and that’s when he needed the support.
“Or they would take the view to change the manager, and they’ve taken that route which is to me a surprise as I felt they’d see Frank differently.
“I thought he could be the first manager under Roman Abramovich to really be given time to build a team. He’s the first manager to ever bring through young players at that team.”