Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck praises Frank Lampard’s first season in charge

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Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has rated Frank Lampard’s first season in charge of the club “a successful one’” despite the Blues failing to win the FA Cup at the end of the season. 

The Stamford Bridge outfit has seemingly made it a thing to play London rivals Arsenal in a cup final at the end of every season, coming out on top on the last two occasions. However, The North Londoners snagged the silverware this time around. Lampard’s side went into the match as favourites to lift the trophy, with William Hill offering 21/20 on their prospects and 13/5 on Arsenal’s. Fans who took the 8/11 odds would have netted some cash as the match ended 2-1 in favour of the Gunners. Paddy Power also had an 8/11 offer going on Chelsea scoring first, which was the case as Christian Pulisic broke the deadlock in the fifth minute of the match.

A 7-1 blowout to Bayern Munich this past weekend can’t have lightened the mood all that much. And although there was very little hope Chelsea could have overturned the 4-1 deficit to the German side, they now have the unwanted record of conceding the most goals in a single Champions League season with 16.

While Lampard’s first term as Blues boss did not result in the capture of a trophy, fans can still feel satisfied given how bleak things looked at the beginning of the season – you’d probably struggle to find one who would not readily accept a sixth-place finish after losing 4-0 to Manchester United on opening day. Couple Lampard’s relative inexperience and a transfer ban, and you have a Europa League berth at best.

Despite the odds, Lampard steered Chelsea to a fourth-place finish, securing Champions League football for the 2020/21 season and Buck is quite happy with the accomplishment. 

“In the round, we think it was a very successful season,” the chairman said. “I think obviously we would have been a little bit happier if we had won the FA Cup. But I’m sure the manager and the players were gutted not to lift the trophy.”

Having already signed Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, Chelsea’s expectations won’t be as low next season. The Blues are 14/1 to win the Premier League title, behind Manchester City (1/1), Liverpool (7/4), and Man United (8/1). Fans can find the best tips, along with plenty of other betting information at https://www.freebets.com/.

Chelsea lead the race for the London club tipped to finish the highest in the top flight. William Hill have odds of 8/13 going in that regard, also offering 11/4 on Tottenham. Arsenal are up next at 10/3 while West Ham are 50/1.

As for the Champions League, the competition is still very much alive as a result of the pandemic. An English club is favoured to win the tournament this year and the bookies are offering odds of 9/4 to that end. Germany are also 9/4, Spain are 10/3 and France are 9/2.