Frank Lampard’s departure seems crazy but inevitable

Lamps: True-Blue Legend

Nobody wants to see a talented, top-class player leave the club he supports, especially when he has given it all for club and country for over a decade. Even a neutral football fan would be baffled by the boards decision to not retain such a loyal servant.

Frank Lampard must be the only player at Chelsea who is loved by each and everyone associated with the club. If not for his immense talent and ability, the club could retain his services to be a mentor for the young players coming through. Yet the latest statement from Lampard’s agent and John Terry, in addition to Rafa’s comments on his 2^nd day at office, seem to end all the speculation about his future.

For a day or so, I thought that Roman Abramovich might just offer Lampard a contract seeing how he is a fan favourite, but anyone who has seen enough Hollywood movies knows that Russians are not too sentimental. They do what they want and they do everything to achieve it.

Right now except the Chelsea board, everybody either at Chelsea or elsewhere wants to see Frank Lampard play at Stamford Bridge next season. One does wonder what Lampard has to do for them to offer him a new contract, even after all he has done and still can do for the club?

Money is certainly not the issue. Lampard allegedly agreed to take a huge pay cut in order to stay at the club even with his chances of a first team place limited. His love for the club is unquestionable, and he deserves all the respect he gets. Surely, if Roman were to ask Rafa Benitez his opinion on Lampard at this given time, he would probably tell him to retain him. Then again, Benitez’s future at the club is uncertain too, as he is only on a short-term deal as interim manager.

Frank’s departure has been on the cards since Andre Villas-Boas’ short tenure. Roman invested a lot of money in getting the talented young manager at the club, and he was seen as the long-term answer to the club’s head coach problems. AVB himself said that Roman had made it clear that he won’t be fired prematurely, and yet it happened.

On 3^rd March 2012, AVB left the club and surely when Roman went to Cobham that day, he would have blamed the senior players for failing to get behind the manager, and rightly so. Ashley Cole too falls in the same slot, with Lampard’s and his disagreements with AVB going public.

Roman would have been embarrassed and disgusted at the time, and Spurs’ latest performances are proving that Roman’s earlier gamble in hiring AVB were right. Somewhere along the line, Roman would have hinted to Lampard that he would be allowed to see out his contract at Chelsea but that’s all he’ll get.

John Terry’s statement on retiring the No.8 jersey from the club is a nice idea indeed, though the Russian owner may not like that. But maybe the club should do that to honour the service he has done for the club. He has given Chelsea several reasons to cheer through the years.

Roman has a business model and a vision for the club and he will follow that. He cannot let emotions or the fans change his targets. And in no way can Chelsea fans turn their back on Roman, for he saved Chelsea from the brink of extinction and what Chelsea is today is because of Roman only.

So while he may go on doing what he thinks is best for the club, let’s hope that some miracle changes his mind, for Frankie Lampard is irreplaceable.