THAT WAS PAINFUL!
Lampard insists sack talk won’t deter him but admits City defeat hurt
FRANK LAMPARD insisted he is unflustered by talk of the sack as pressure grows on the Chelsea manager after yesterday’s hammering by Manchester City.
Following a 17-game unbeaten run, Chelsea have now won just once in seven games, an alarming sequence that has seen them slip to eighth in the Premier League.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has a reputation for ruthlessly sacking managers, a trend Lampard — who called the 3-1 home defeat by City ‘painful’ — encountered directly during his illustrious playing career at Stamford Bridge.
He said: ‘We are in a tough period. I understand it as I played here for a long time. I understand the minute that you lose a few games in a short period of time then everyone looks and asks questions. Then
everyone looks at it differently and says you spent that much money. ‘I will always feel the heat. I felt it when we were on our good run because I know that around the corner can be the negative. ‘I am not going to speak for people above me because I can never do that. That’s why I couldn’t answer a month ago about me getting a new contract, I can’t answer what they’re thinking about now. ‘It is my job to focus on working, not what they’re thinking as that would just distract me and I can’t do it.’
Lampard admits his players are suffering from a crisis of confidence. He said: ‘When City turned up the heat in the first half our players didn’t react. I think some of that is a little bit of a confidence issue where they go, “OK this is tough”. But this is a level we want to get to and we are not there.’