Frank Lampard acrimonious sacking at Chelsea laid bare the harsh reality of modern football where it is considered more of a business than just a sport like any other. There would be no complaints about whether it was right or not but one is left to wonder how on earth Solskjaer did not precede him after being 'sacked' several times by the cruel media. Unfortunately, it was Lampard who was shown the door and in all fairness, the Chelsea board had seen enough of the lack of identity and tactics in months leading up to his dismissal. While Solskjaer's tactical identity in counter attacking football was at the very least already known, there was no clear way to define Lampard's tactics as he kept changing his attacking systems for a record 17 times across all competitions this season clearly showing a serious flaw in his coaching ability at the top level. It was not a surprise that the new signings failed to settle in the squad as evidenced by Timo Werner failing to score in 15 matches as well as Kai Havertz's underwhelming performances in the no 10 role. Solskjaer on the other hand found a cunning way to win games when the chopping axe was about to fall on him thus buying him time to fix the sinking ship. More so, he was given more time to rectify his errors by the Man United hierarchy unlike the impatient Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich who is ruthless when it comes to firing non-performing coaches no matter their caliber. Perhaps Lampard would have been given more time if he was in charge of another club, but his performances did not do him any favors either. He even fell out with senior player like Antonio Rudiger and there were rumors of him favoring certain players while sidelining others leading to several player camps being formed in the bloated dressing room. He should have learned from Ole Solskjaer's handling of star egos like Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and of course Paul Pogba who has since humbled himself after the infamous remarks by his agent Mino Raiola. Solskjaer is finally finding his feet at Old Trafford as Man United are in the title charge for the first time in as many years, and they look to have found themselves for the first time since post Fergie era. It's surely only up from here for Ole Solskjaer and his troops who are fully behind him now, but for Chelsea, it's on to the next manager in Thomas Tuchel, and they don't mind maintaining the legacy of hire and fire if that is what will deliver results on the pitch. Maybe Frank Lampard punched above his weight too soon when he quickly joined Chelsea from Derby County, but you cannot blame him for accepting a call from his former club where he won a plethora of trophies among them the maiden Champions League trophy. For sure, he will get another job and get a chance to learn and improve his coaching career, while for Ole Solskjaer, What a time to be Alive!
