Redknapp on Lampard: ‘We’re talking about their greatest ever player and someone who is more than just a footballer for that club. He’ll feel hurt but Frank will get over it and come back stronger’
Jamie Redknapp reacts to Frank Lampard’s Chelsea sacking – and believes his cousin will bounce back following his dismissal after 18 months at Stamford Bridge…
Of course, I’m very surprised like everyone. Once the results start to go against you at a club like Chelsea the pressure then does come on. Rightly or wrongly, the club have had a lot of success hiring and firing managers. They’re not afraid to do that.
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.
He has brought through Mason Mount, Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour, Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham which in the long term will save the club an absolute fortune.
Frank is a proud man and he’ll feel bitterly disappointed and a little bit upset but he’s a realist who understands football. He knows that if the results and the performances aren’t there, at a club like Chelsea, this is the outcome.