Sir Frank Lampard

"From Wednesday he will start working with us and play for us until January."

"He’s a member of the squad and he will fight for his position."

"He knows we have a good team and we have a lot of games in the Champions League so he's very important for our team."

— Pellegrini, via Sky Sports

How long does his loan go on for?

6 months

Oh well, not the end of the world though.

https://twitter.com/BlueNawaz/status/496017301724868609


Pretty much sums it up re the select few feigning outrage.

Mourinho on Lampard deal:
-

"He is a free agent he can choose his club so I have no problem at all."

"When he comes to Stamford Bridge he is welcome. When he comes to the Emirates…. He is at the Emirates. There is no problem."

-

— via the Daily Mail

Indeed no problem.

I'm really not bothered, because hes really really past it.

Also, how many other legends moved on to other rival clubs (for bigger stints, often) and are still seen as legends?

*barf*

 

...

Looks fantastic!

Stop it, Shed

Reported for offensive content

Lamps officially retires from England.

Legend

Not surprising at all but he was a great servant for England.

The night Chelsea crashed to a 3-1 defeat at Napoli in the Champions League in February 2012.

His contentious eight-month reign would end with the sack 11 days later.

Frank Lampard sits in a London hotel near his South Kensington home and reflects on one of the most troubled seasons in his 13 years at Stamford Bridge and yet one that would end with Chelsea winning the Champions League.

Lampard said: "It was a horrible night for the club but one that had been brewing for some time.

"There had been a few problems in the AVB era from the start.

"He was a very young manager and he had been at the club before. But he changed a lot of things all at once to try to put his own imprint on the club which, to be honest, I think he may have been asked to do.

"But it seemed quite clear that he didn't see me, Didier Drogba and, to a point, Ashley Cole as being in tune with how he wanted to do it or the way the club should go.

"I was in and out of the team and Didier didn't play a lot, either.

"I'm not stupid. If I'm playing regularly and a new manager comes in, brings in a couple of new players and then leaves you out for a good few weeks, you understand what it is.

"We then went to Napoli and he didn't play me or Ash while he had Jose Bosingwa out of position at left-back.

"It was a disastrous night. AVB went soon after, Robbie di Matteo came in, me and Ash came back for the second leg, Didier scored the first and the team turned it round.

"Robbie did everything perfectly. He called us in one by one and told me I still had a big part to play though it might not be every game. But it would be the big ones.

"He inspired everyone and was brilliant in the way he built relationships as we went on to win the Champions League.

"AVB had played his cards and it hadn't worked. I don't know if he was too young or whether it had come too early for him.

"One thing I will address is that a lot of people said when he and Phil Scolari and some of the other managers left it was all down to player power at Chelsea.

"That's a load of c**p. I'm being completely honest because... OK, AVB and I weren't very close but I don't need to be close to my manager... but I am definitely not the type to act up.

"No one at the club was. Even Ash, who I know wasn't happy not playing week-in week-out, would never have run off and said 'Please sack the manager, we've had enough of him.' That's plain ridiculous. We are professionals.

"Can you imagine what Roman Abramovich would've said to him? I pay your wages, I make the decisions, now f*** off and play.

"It just didn't work with AVB. He then went on to Tottenham and had another experience which was negative. Now he's apparently doing pretty well at Zenit so good luck to him. We all learn."

Yet just a couple of months after AVBs exit, Lampard was celebrating what he calls his greatest night at Chelsea "by a million miles" when they won the Champions League in Munich.

He recalled: "The high point had been winning the title for the first time at Bolton in 2005 when Roman was on the pitch and then high-fiving everyone and having champagne sprayed all over him in the dressing room. He loved it.

"The Champions League, though, had been such a roller-coaster. We had gone close, we'd had bad luck, we lost the final to Manchester United and went out to a last-minute goal from Andres Iniesta against Barcelona.

"You get to the point where you don't believe its going to happen.

"Yet against all the odds yes, with an element of luck but still through desire and ability we beat Bayern on their own ground.

"It was a culmination of all the hard work and getting back everything we had put in. When Arjen Robben missed that penalty in extra-time I knew we'd win.

"My abiding memory of all my years at Chelsea will be that hour on the pitch afterwards with the fans and the cup. At one stage I tried to throw myself in among the supporters but ran into a wall of alcohol! It was brilliant."

Then there was John Terry tearing off his suit and joining the celebrations... and launching a tsunami of internet posts of him winning the Tour de France, The Ashes and The X Factor.

Lampard said: "JT actually took it all in good spirit.

"In his defence, he had spent the best part of ten years trying to win the Champions League, played all the way up to the semi-final that season and then got sent off at the Nou Camp.

"Who could begrudge a man like that having his moment? He had done so much down the years that he deserved it as much if not more than anyone."

If he has sympathy for JT, Lampard has huge respect for £50million Fernando Torres and not only for his part in the semi-final miracle at the Nou Camp.

He said: "Fernando is quite a quiet lad and he suffered at Chelsea. He found it hard with the big price tag and it didn't go for him.

"But he always kept his head down, worked hard, trained hard and his goal was a massive reward for him. We couldn't have been more delighted for him.

"It was a surreal game with John getting sent off and us trailing 2-0 and 2-1 down on aggregate.

"It was game over, we all knew it down on the pitch. We actually thought it might end up 6-0 the way they were playing.

"Then it just happened. Ramires scored a great goal, we defended on the edge of the box, Messi missed a penalty and hit the bar... and then Fernando ran the length of the pitch to score.

"Whatever people say about Fernando, Chelsea fans were amazing with him.

"It would've been easy for them to have had a go but they backed him to the hilt and they will never forget him for that moment alone.

"He never stopped running and trying to do the right thing and the whole time he kept his dignity in the dressing room. It takes a big man to do that.



Sir Frank truly is as classy as they come

Controversial opinion from me is that Lamps always was Chelsea's finest leader in his consistency and the introspective qualities that he brought in which no one did. John Terry is also a natural leader yet more of a politician to me while Lampard was a true representative for the Blues.

Just like what Zanetti was for Maldini for me, Lampard is what Gerrard is in that respect as well. Both I equally respect as much as the rival leaders.

Pure class.

Arquitescu wrote:Controversial opinion from me is that Lamps always was Chelsea's finest leader in his consistency and the introspective qualities that he brought in which no one did. John Terry is also a natural leader yet more of a politician to me while Lampard was a true representative for the Blues.

Just like what Zanetti was for Maldini for me, Lampard is what Gerrard is in that respect as well. Both I equally respect as much as the rival leaders.

Pure class.

Not controversial at all imo, I agree with you

Lamps lead with performences, JT was the leader, both together was a killer combination.

....

He just can't stop scoring in blue

Gutted over a goal scored by Frank Lampard.


Weird feeling indeed.


Probably hurt him more than any of us, mind.