Lampard will get more time as Chelsea boss

CHELSEA will give Frank Lampard time to arrest the club’s alarming slump amid growing pressure on the Blues boss. The team have won just one of their previous seven matches, a run that has raised questions over Lampard’s future. Owner Roman Abramovich has a ruthless reputation tation for dismissing managers since his arrival at Stamford Bridge in 2003. But the Blues power-brokers are prepared to give Chelsea legend Lampard (right) an opportunity to put the team back on track. There is an acknowledgement of his work in leading the team to an excellent start to the season that saw them go 17 games unbeaten, plus the fact they breezed through their Champions League group. Lampard’s impressive first season in charge, during which he led the club to a top-four finish and reached the FA Cup final despite a transfer ban, is also looked upon favourably. While the club remain within touching distance of the Champions League places, there is a reluctance to make any decisions mid-season. However, there is an acceptance within the Chelsea hierarchy that there must be a marked impr improvement in results res between no now and the end of the season — particularly after th their huge su summer spending spree sp that included big-money bigbuys such as Tim Timo Werner, Ben Chil Chilwell ll and d Hakim Ziyech. The preference is to take stock at the end of the season when they will be able to judge Lampard’s second season as manager in full. Any further slumps in form, however, could yet hasten a change at the helm. Chelsea’s next game is an FA Cup tie at home to Morecambe on Sunday, before a West London derby at Fulham on Friday week.