Chelsea are taking a dive into the unknown next season. For the first time since Roman Abramovich took over the club, the club are hiring a relatively inexperienced manager in Frank Lampard.
There’s one thing that we as a club cannot afford to do no matter what the outcome of Lampard’s appointment. We, as a club, can’t afford to use our hearts to make decisions rather than our head. Doing so could see us fool ourselves into believing the 41-year-old is the right man for the job if he is quite obviously failing, due to the romance surrounding Lampard’s return to the club he is the record goalscorer at. Doing so can have huge consequences on the future of the club, and may see the club regress.
Keeping a cool head in when making tough decisions really does show good leadership, and Chelsea’s board could learn from Manchester United’s board and their decision to permanently appointment Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager. Admittedly the Norwegian was on a run of just three losses in 19 games when he was appointed manager on a full time basis. The emotion was high at the time, Solskjaer had brought back the ‘feel-good’ factor to Old Trafford. However, the appointment has since proved to be a questionable one as Manchester United ended the season with just two wins in their final 12 games in all competitions. This proves that rash decisions made with the heart rather than the head aren’t always the best, and it is something Chelsea need to take heed of as a club.
With Lampard looking to return to the club, and everyone from ex-players and current players to fans excited about it, we need to approach this managerial appointment with a clear mind. We need to treat it as if the Englishman is any other manager. If we treat him as the ex-player we know and love, we will start to make excuses for him and any poor form he may endure. This could be harmful to the future of the club and see a similar situation to Arsene Wenger, who even himself thought he stayed too long at the club.
