No sentimentality as Chelsea fires Lampard

Sentimentality couldn’t save Frank Lampard. Being Chelsea’s record scorer counted for little when the team’s decline, on Lampard’s watch as manager, alarmed owner Roman Abramovich after $300 million invested in new talent for this season.

After just 18 months in charge, and five losses in the last eight English Premier League games, the novice coach was fired on Monday.

It was the 14th change of managers in 18 years at Chelsea under Abramovich, and former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel is set to arrive in London this week as Lampard’s replacement. The German could attend Wednesday’s match against Wolverhampton using a slight English pandemic allowance for workers flying into an elite sports environment to avoid full quarantine — if he tests negative for the coronavirus.