Frank Lampard sends 'corny' goodbye message to Chelsea fans ahead of final game as Blues interim manager

Frank Lampard is insisting his final Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge is not a goodbye to fans due to his deep-rooted links to the club.

Lampard time as interim manager up
Won only one game
Has sent Chelsea fans 'corny' goodbye message

WHAT HAPPENED? Lampard took over from previous caretaker Bruno Saltor in April following the sacking of Graham Potter just a few days earlier. His spell in charge has not exactly gone to plan, with the Blues winning only one game since he took over, scoring just six goals in the process. Before Lampard's last match in charge against Newcastle, he sent what he described as a 'corny' message to the fans.

WHAT HE SAID? "This may sound corny but I don’t feel like it is a goodbye," Lampard said. "I’ll appreciate it, and it will be the end of the season and the end of my small time back, and I didn’t have that [a chance to interact with the supporters] before because it was Covid. But normally when you leave a club you don’t have a big hurrah as a manager, you are in one day and you are out the next and that is fine.

"This is the corny part but I will never feel like I am saying goodbye to the fans because my career as a player, a coach the first time around, and now this period is there. I live close enough to the stadium and I will be back at Chelsea many times."

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THE BIGGER PICTURE: This is Lampard's second stint in the Stamford Bridge dugout with his first spell being brought to a rather abrupt ending by ex-owner Roman Abramovich in the 2020/21 season. By this time Chelsea, along with the rest of the Premier League, had played games behind closed doors for almost a year and the fans had not chance to voice their support for their ex-player.

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