Why Norwich may have dodged a bullet with Lampard rejection

Stefan Bienkowski

• 12 Nov 2021 09:50 CST
• 3 min read

Norwich City were expected to complete the appointment of Frank Lampard as their new manager this week but that plan is now up in smoke.

The former Derby County and Chelsea manager had been heavily linked with the post and was expected to succeed Daniel Farke at Carrow Road.

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However, according to a new report from the Daily Mail, Lampard has now rejected the opportunity to pick up the reins of the Premier League side and will continue his hiatus from football management.

While that may seem like a slight on Norwich as a club, fans should be quietly rejoicing at the prospect of not being managed by the former England and Chelsea manager. Allow us to explain why.

Lampard is no better than Farke

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about appointing Lampard as their next manager was the fact that the young English coach would have drawn immediate comparisons to his predecessor in terms of how each did while managing clubs in the English Championship.

Farke’s Norwich side were all-conquering in the second tier last season and over the course of his time in the division with the club, the German manager averaged a respectable 1.82 points per league game.

In comparison, Lampard only managed a mere 1.61 points per game during his time with Derby in the Championship and while it’s hard to properly compare one club to another, there’s very little to suggest that the former Chelsea player did any better than Farke in that league.

Lampard isn't a proven Premier League manager

Another aspect of Lampard's short managerial career to date that would have surely concerned Norwich fans is the fact that he didn't do a great job at Chelsea.

While Lampard did pick up 1.67 points per league game as Chelsea manager, it wasn’t all that impressive. Especially when we consider what kind of players he had at his disposal at the London club.

To really put Lampard’s performance in the Premier League into context, it’s worth noting that his successor Thomas Tuchel is currently averaging 2.36 points per league game with largely the same squad that faltered under the English coach. And that suggests that Lampard didn’t entirely get the best out of the players at Chelsea.