Roman Abramovich shouldn’t have appointed Frank Lampard at Chelsea if he wasn’t going to be given time to succeed.
That is the view of former Blues player and manager Glenn Hoddle, who has questioned the owner’s decision to part ways the Lampard after just 18 months in charge of the club.
Lampard’s status as the club’s record goalscorer and fan favourite could not save him from becoming Roman Abramovich’s 10th managerial sacking.
The former England midfielder, who won three league titles and the Champions League with Chelsea as a player, has now been replaced by Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge with the German confirmed as manager on Tuesday evening.
And Hoddle has questioned why the former England international was hired in the first place if he wasn’t given time to be succeed.
“We shouldn’t be surprised, because this is the pattern that Abramovich has given Chelsea for many years,” Hoddle told talkSPORT.
“The surprise element is that when you hire a young, relatively inexperienced manager, there’s got to be a three-year plan.
“And Frank being Frank, an absolute legend of Chelsea, I’m thinking that was the reasoning behind his decision to appoint him.”
Hoddle is adamant Lampard would have brought success to the club had he given more time to stay.
“I think he would have been successful,” the former England boss added. “I said in the earlier part of this season that Chelsea’s squad could be challenging for the Premier League in two years’ time.
“I could see Lampard developing this team. It’s gone a little bit pear shaped at the moment but we’re only halfway through and the race is still a long way to go, particularly this year.
“So many teams are inconsistent so they can actually get themselves back in the top four and where they want to be.
“So I was surprised and disappointed that Frank wasn’t given the time.”
Hoddle also questioned Chelsea’s recruitment, insisting they signed too many ‘creative’ players when they didn’t necessarily need to do so.
“I’m not so sure that all the players that they brought in that he wanted, to be honest,” he said.
“Sometimes you’re thinking: Who is buying the players?”
“There’s now an overload of a similar sort of player. They had loads of creative players already and to go and get three and pay a hell of a lot of money.
“I’m not sure he needed all three of them.”
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