Premier League table from Frank Lampard's first spell as Chelsea manager
By Euan Burns
Frank Lampard has been appointed as the new Chelsea boss on an interim basis until the end of the 2022/23 campaign in a move that has shocked fans of both Chelsea and other clubs.
While there is still a special relationship between Lampard and the Chelsea fans for what he did as a player, many rival fans cannot understand why Todd Boehly thinks the former midfielder should be getting another go at the Chelsea job that he recently had for a season and a half.
He will be Chelsea's third coach of the season after the sackings of Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter and the club are trying to grab some sort of European football for next season.
Here's how they did in the Premier League during the former England international's first stint in charge.
Frank Lampard's career post-Chelsea
After taking a year away from the managerial game after being sacked by Chelsea, Lampard was drafted in by Everton in January 2022 and managed to stop the club from getting relegated to the Championship.
Things did not get any better than that though in the next season and with the Toffees involved in another relegation dog-fight, Lampard was sacked and Sean Dyche brought in to try to rescue the season. They are still very much at risk of going down but the situation looks less fraught than it was under Lampard.
Since then, Lampard has been out of work and waiting for the next job to come available. He may not have expected it to be a club the size of Chelsea.
Frank Lampard's first spell as Chelsea boss
Lampard took over as the Chelsea boss in the summer ahead of the 2019/20 season and it's fair to say it was his dream job. There was a huge sense of occasion when he took his new team to Old Trafford on the opening day to face Manchester United, but unfortunately for Lampard his side were thrashed 4-0.
The first eight games were tough going as they won just twice in all competitions, but a 7-1 victory over Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup snapped Chelsea into form as they then won the next six after that.
The season then became very inconsistent with Chelsea regularly winning one game and then dropping points the next. No run of form was put together again until March when they won five in a row across the Premier League and the FA Cup, albeit with the Covid-19 interruption meaning some of that run was in June.
The season ended relatively well despite an FA Cup final defeat against Arsenal, but Chelsea had secured fourth place in the league and a Champions League campaign for the next season. It wasn't always pretty, but it wasn't a bad first season coaching a top side.
Read more on Frank Lampard's return to Chelsea
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In the half a season Lampard had in charge, the story was much the same. The results were very inconsistent with the only run of form coming between October and December. Chelsea went unbeaten in ten games across all competitions, with only two of those ten ending in draws.
They then won just one of the next six and despite his final four games being two FA Cup wins, one Premier League win and a defeat, Lampard was on his way. Chelsea were languishing in tenth at the end of January and had to act early to stand a chance of getting back into the Champions League places.
Premier League table across Frank Lampard's first Chelsea spell
The table combines the records of teams that were in and around the top ten of the Premier League across the full 2019/20 season and the first 18 games of the 2020/21 season, the point where Lampard was sacked. Every team's record comes from 58 games.
Pos | Team | Win | Draw | Lose | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Liverpool | 41 | 9 | 6 | 132 |
2 | Man City | 37 | 8 | 11 | 119 |
3 | Man Utd | 30 | 15 | 11 | 105 |
4 | Leicester City | 29 | 10 | 17 | 97 |
5 | Chelsea | 27 | 11 | 18 | 92 |
6 | Tottenham | 25 | 17 | 14 | 92 |
7 | Everton | 23 | 12 | 21 | 81 |
8 | Southampton | 23 | 12 | 21 | 81 |
9 | Wolves | 21 | 18 | 17 | 81 |
10 | Arsenal | 21 | 17 | 18 | 80 |
Liverpool and Manchester City were the two finest teams in the land at the time while Manchester United and Leicester also enjoyed better records during Lampard's first stint at Chelsea.
Arsenal are way down in tenth but are now reaping the rewards of backing Mikel Arteta, with a first Premier League title since 2003/04 firmly on the cards.
LISTEN NOW
On this edition of Son of Chelsea, part of the 90min podcast network, Daniel Childs reacts to the fallout after Chelsea sacked Graham Potter and weighs up who is going to replace him as a shortlist including Julian Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino and Luis Enrique is drawn up.
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
