Jody Morris claims Frank Lampard sacking was ‘super harsh’ but admits Thomas Tuchel is ‘top quality manager’
Frank Lampard’s sacking at Chelsea has been described as “super harsh” by his former assistant Jody Morris.
The legendary midfielder was sacked by the Blues in January of this year with his side sitting ninth in the Premier League table, despite guiding Chelsea to 4th place and Champions League qualification the previous season.
Their poor run of five defeats within six weeks spelled the end for Lampard’s 18-month reign at Stamford Bridge, with the decision taken after a 2-0 defeat at Leicester.
But Morris – who was also Lampard’s assistant at Derby County – believes the club’s all-time top goalscorer deserved more time to prove himself in the hot seat.
“The way the season had gone for most teams, unusually for many teams at the top of the table, they went through some really bad spells,” Morris said on the Off The Hook with Jimmy Bullard podcast.
“We definitely went through a six-week period where we underperformed, totally.
“Arsenal and Everton away was really poor. But we absolutely believed we could turn it round.
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“At Chelsea, things like that (sacking) can happen. Do I think it was harsh? Yeah, I thought it was super, super harsh.”
Lampard was replaced in the dugout by former Paris Saint-Germain head coach Thomas Tuchel, who landed the Champions League less than six months after taking over.
And while Morris is gutted about how he and Lampard bombed out of the Bridge, he admits Tuchel has been a great manager for the club.
“At the same time if you look now, I remember speaking to my Chelsea mates and I said I’d go for Tuchel, if I was looking for a manager,” he added.
“We’d heard rumblings in the days leading up to it.
“When you see what he went on to achieve in the Champions League – he’s a top quality manager.
“However, I’ve got to say I still felt like there was an opportunity for us to turn it around considering the problems we’d had in 18 months with the transfer ban and the pandemic. But we did go through a poor five-six week period.”
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic doesn’t usually comment when they sack a manager but he made an exception for Lampard, penning a rare statement thanking him for his work at the club, stating his respect for the man and regret that his appointment hadn’t worked out.
And Lampard admitted: “I loved that. I could never sit here and say I have anything but appreciation for what he did for my career. I was disappointed because I felt we could change things. I saw games coming up as opportunities to get points.
“Your pride takes a hit. There is no doubt about it. That’s human. But with reflection, I would have been absolutely naive to think it would be any different for myself than it had been for managers in the past.
“History says Chelsea make changes and sometimes they have real success off the back of it. It was never for me to go against their model. I have full appreciation to Roman for the opportunity. I can only look forward.
“The minute the news came out, there were 10 photographers plotted up over the road from where we live, so it wasn’t the easiest to leave the house. But I got incredible messages from some of the biggest names in football and I got emotional messages from some of the players.
“I remember reading Reece James’s one. Reece isn’t a man of many words but he wrote the most incredible message. I live near the stadium. For the first week I kept my head down, staying home, spending time with the family.
“But the minute I got out, there were cabbies and Chelsea fans in the streets who gave me a real lift because of how they were with me.”
