FRANK LAMPARD can win the title for Chelsea if the club’s hierarchy give him the freedom Liverpool have afforded their manager Jurgen Klopp.
Former Blues boss Glenn Hoddle reckons the Stamford Bridge board need to allow Lamps to decide which players should be brought in.
Hoddle, 62, firmly believes Lampard has what it takes to become one of the game’s great gaffers provided he is allowed to run the show his way.
Even the club’s most prolific silverware winner Jose Mourinho had Andriy Shevchenko thrust upon him, and it eventually led to conflict with Roman Abramovich and the Portuguese’s exit.
But Hoddle emphasises how crucial it is that the board trust Lampard.
Writing in a new book, “The Boss — Chelsea managers from Ted Drake to Frank Lampard”, Hoddle said: “When you look at the squad you have to wonder what is going on above him in terms of recruitment.
“For me, Frank needs a clear transfer policy to take his team forward.
“He has been getting it right on the training pitch, on the football side, but the next big phase for him will be how the club operate in the transfer market.
“If Frank gets the players he wants, not the players someone else wants, he has an excellent chance, in two or three years’ time, of having the right squad and the right team to challenge for the Premier League title.
“Chelsea have to treat Frank exactly the way Liverpool treated Jurgen Klopp, give him the time to rebuild, give him the players he wants.
“He needs a clearly defined pathway, a clear line of communication, which I don’t think has always been the case in the past.
“If I was a Chelsea fan, I’d think their team is in the right hands, as Frank is doing an excellent job under the circumstances and the future will be bright.”
Before coronavirus halted the season the Blues were fourth in the table.
Hoddle added: “He only had one year at Derby and then took on a Chelsea job with all the extra pressure that comes with it.
Frank’s a legend at the club as a player and that brings even more extra pressure on you.
“It’s all right having a view now, but take us back to the start of the season.
No one would have thought he would have done as well as he has done with such a big rebuilding project ahead of him and without any ability to move into the transfer market.
“You would have said he would do well to get Chelsea into the top six or even seven under those circumstances. Sitting where he is now, I don’t think anyone would have anticipated that.
“Chelsea are in good hands, the way they are playing, the way Frank has brought on the young players, while he is learning all the time about management in the Premier League. Under all those considerations he is doing an amazing job.
“It was a shrewd move to bring in Jody Morris at Derby and then to take him with him to Chelsea. Together they are making the team stronger.”
Former Stamford Bridge midfield maestro Hoddle was also Chelsea manager for three years in the mid-90s before he became England boss and is recognised as starting the Blues Revolution by bringing in Ruud Gullit, Mark Hughes and Dan Petrescu.
Hoddle said: “I have fond memories of my time at Chelsea, and I would like to think from the moment I arrived as manager, I played a significant part in seeing the club develop.
“When I took over I knew it’d be a massive challenge, but I thought the club would have been in a far better state than it was when I walked through the doors. I have to admit I was shocked by what I encountered.
“The facilities were shocking enough, but the mentality was not of a club of its standing or one that should be aiming high enough.
“I felt my first job — and the most challenging — was to change that mentality, which I set about doing.
“It wasn’t just a question of changing the style of play but I also had to try to change the mentality off the pitch. For example the training ground, and the facilities were simply not good enough, no gym, no eating facilities, just a few grubby old chairs.
“When I arrived I asked, “Where’s my office?” I was shown to a BT telephone box!
“It was one where you had to shovel in 50p pieces. The one we had you put in the 50p piece and sometimes it would shoot out the other end, and you had to quickly put it back in again!
“I will always remember trying to do a £2.1million deal for Andy Townsend with Ron Atkinson with all the staff noise in the background, when I was trying to conduct a private deal with my 50p piece in hand.
“The facilities at a modest club like Swindon, where I had just left to sign for Chelsea, were better.
“It was hard enough sorting out the playing squad, which needed overhauling at the time, and that took time enough, but eventually I was able to also change the mentality of the club off the pitch.”
- THE BOSS — CHELSEA MANAGERS FROM TED DRAKE TO FRANK LAMPARD by Harry Harris. Foreword by Frank Lampard; introduction Ivor Baddiel; preface by Glenn Hoddle. Empire Publications, £10.99.
