It’s been said many times, but the EPL is a pressure cooker where results rule the roost and patience is a virtue few club chairmen and owners possess. The stakes are high, the money is ridiculous and managers who don’t deliver on the pitch are sacked without hesitation.
And the recent dismissal of Frank Lampard at Chelsea is a classic case in point. A much loved player during a golden era, he became the club’s leading goalscorer and part of Premier League and Cup winning squads on a regular basis.
Appointed as manager in July 2019, after just one year’s managerial experience with Derby County in the Championship (where they lost in the play-off final to Aston Villa), he was a club icon riding a wave of expectation at a top six club notoriously impatient for success. A promising first season saw Chelsea finish fourth, qualify for the Champions League and lose to Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
And following a hefty $275m+ summer spend on fiver players, things looked to be going well as the Blues topped the EPL table and their Champions League group early in December. Sadly it only takes one bad batch of results for the button to be pushed, and following a run of only two wins in eight EPL games, Chelsea slipped to ninth and on 25th January Lampard was on his way.
Brutal, unfair perhaps, but the Chelsea way, as lined up replacement Thomas Tuchel stepped in the following day. Roman Abramovich demands more from his $275m summer spend, and is not prepared to wait.
So should young managers get more time? The riches on offer in the EPL give many owners short memories and few want to play the long game – a situation made worse by the crowd-less games that have come since the pandemic struck.
Planet Sport Football Africa listeners have been clear in their view: new young managers need to pay their dues lower down the football pyramid before taking a top job. Kachii Ver-or in Nigeria thinks Lampard was “rushed into the Premier League” and should have spent another season at Derby. Gary Jones in Zimbabwe believes he should have followed Steven Gerrard’s example “Start coaching in Scotland or begin with a smaller team and let them find their way up.”
And Ogwal Lawrence from Uganda believes Chelsea, as a top six club wanting to win trophies “is not a club for young coaches to learn new techniques.”
Maybe the appointment was too early for Frank Lampard, clearly a talented coach who looks a prime candidate for managerial success. Or is it that in a league flushed with money clubs desperate for a place at the top table are only interested in instant success?
We live in a world where patience and being prepared to wait for opportunities are not popular virtues. Similarly contentment is undervalued, while ambition and aspiration are prized.
Followers of Jesus Christ believe God created a world where everything has its time, and patience is seen as a key part of the Creator’s character. In the Holy Bible (2 Peter 3:8), the apostle Peter writes “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” And he continues "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
God sees our potential, and wants us to become the people he has created us to be. That takes time. It means making mistakes, receiving forgiveness, and learning. And for followers of Jesus, success is all about obedience to what God has asked of us. Thankfully he doesn’t kick us out of his family if we fail – he gives us the strength to get up and carry on following Jesus.
Maybe a little patience wouldn’t go amiss amongst trigger happy EPL owners – allowing more young managers to fulfil their potential.