Harry Redknapp said Chelsea made a ‘knee-jerk’ decision in sacking Frank Lampard as manager, insisting his nephew would have been a success if he was given more time.
The Blues confirmed Lampard’s departure from Stamford Bridge on Monday after just 18 months in charge, and just a day after they had beaten Luton Town in the FA Cup.
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Chelsea currently sit ninth in the top-flight, 11 points behind league leaders Manchester United.
And in a statement issued on Monday, which included some rare comments from owner Roman Abramovich, the Blues explained their reasoning behind the decision, saying Lampard has ‘left the club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement’.
Considerable pressure has been placed on Lampard throughout the campaign after the club’s big-spending summer, having splashed out over £200million on new players.
Redknapp has accused those new players of being ‘massive disappointments’ and letting the manager down, and suggested Lampard had little say in the signings.
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And the veteran Premier League coach was fuming with Chelsea when he joined talkSPORT to react to the news, insisting sacking Lampard is the wrong decision.
“It’s very disappointing to hear the news this morning,” Redknapp told talkSPORT host Jim White.
“On the back of a good result, beating Luton in the FA Cup, I thought they’d give him a bit of time.
“I thought [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer was sure to go, no way he was going to survive, but Manchester United gave him a bit of time and suddenly they have a little run and turn it around.
“Everybody goes through bad spells; Jurgen Klopp is going through one now at Liverpool, Mikel Arteta is going through one at Arsenal as well.
“People need time. Losing four or five games doesn’t suddenly make you a bad manager! Surely you’ve got to have more faith in people rather than giving them that knee-jerk reaction.
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“When you look at the players, people say he’s spent all this money, did he bring the players in? Did he bring the Germans in? Management is so different now, managers aren’t always responsible for signing players.
“The recruitment for me in the summer, all the money they spent, I don’t think they spent it well. I’ve not been impressed with the players they’ve brought in apart from Thiago Silva who they brought in on a free transfer, the rest of them there are big question marks over.
“The two German players have been massive disappointments, massive. I’m not even sure Timo Werner is cut out for Premier League football, the physical side is too much for him.
“I doubt very much whether Frank had a big say over in who came in.
“If they were worried about his lack of experience, maybe they should have brought someone in with a bit more experience around him. You need people around you when things are not going well, and he didn’t have that.
“The bottom line is you need time. You’re going to have your ups and downs.
“Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn’t have survived at Man United [nowadays]; he survived by the skin of his teeth, the board looked like they were going to sack him after 18 months or two years at Old Trafford when he hadn’t won anything, but he then went on for many, many years and was arguably the greatest manager we’ve ever had.
“You need time, and unfortunately at Chelsea it’s a club where they don’t seem to give you time.”
Asked about his nephew’s future, Redknapp admitted it might take a while for Lampard to get over his departure from the club he loves.
But he is confident the former England midfielder will be back in the dugout soon.
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He added: “I haven’t spoken to Frank today, I messaged him last night after the win yesterday. I enjoyed watching him bring back Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount is a great kid who wants to play for him, Tammy Abraham getting a hat-trick, it was a good day for them.
“I thought it could be the start of a run for them, so I’m really disappointed today and he’ll be choked up for sure. Frank absolutely loves the club, he was really enjoying the job even though results hadn’t gone well, he believed in himself enough to know he could turn it around.
“Frank is a very independent and wealthy boy, if he doesn’t want another job the TV companies will be all over him for sure.
“But I think he loves it, he loves being involved in the game and I’m sure he’ll be looking to come back in again in the future when an opportunity comes up.”
talkSPORT brings you LIVE commentary of Chelsea’s next two matches, against Wolves on Wednesday and at home to Burnley on Sunday
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