Frank Lampard backed for stunning Chelsea manager return after Liam Rosenior update

Chelsea are in the market for a new head coach following Enzo Maresca's shock departure from the club earlier this week

Chelsea have been urged to make a shock move to appoint former manager Frank Lampard as Enzo Maresca ’s successor.

The London club are in the market for a new head coach after parting ways with the Italian earlier this week. The decision came less than 48 hours after a disappointing 2-2 draw against Bournemouth in the Premier League, but arrived as a consequence of intensifying tensions between Maresca and the club’s hierarchy this season.

A number of names have been linked with the vacant position as Chelsea look to get a new head coach in place at the earliest opportunity. This weekend, academy coach Calum McFarlane will oversee their clash with Manchester City in what appears an overwhelming mismatch in the dugout against Pep Guardiola.

Strasbourg’s Liam Rosenior is the current favourite to take charge given the ownership links between Chelsea and the Ligue 1 side - and the latest indication is that talks between the two parties are progressing well. Otherwise, former player Cesc Fabregas, Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner are outside shouts for the role.

However, former Blue Carlton Cole believes Lampard should be given another shot at leading Chelsea. The current Coventry City boss has had two spells at Stamford Bridge, with his initial tenure lasting just under two years between August 2019 and January 2021.

He then returned to the club as caretaker manager in April 2023 following the departure of Graham Potter, leading the team until the end of that season. In November last year, he was appointed by Coventry City, where he has enjoyed a much more promising spell, with his side currently leading the Championship table and among the favourites to secure promotion this term.

Cole, who was a young player coming through at Chelsea in the early 2000s while Lampard was a first-team regular, believes the work Lampard did during his first spell in charge should earn him enough credit to be given another opportunity. The manager had to navigate a transfer embargo and played a key role in integrating a number of young players into the first team, including Mason Mount and Reece James.

"His first outing there was really good," Cole said of his former teammate on talkSPORT. "Because he used the young players, he had Jody Morris next to him...

"He did really well, better than expected, with no budget, so they had to feed the youth in. That set the tone. You cannot forget that. That was miracle work from Lampard.

"I like Lampard as a Chelsea manager. The reason why I’m saying that is because I know he knows the club inside out. He knows the culture, and listen, he didn’t do too bad in his first outing. Imagine if he gets backed.

"But that’s another thing, if he was to come in, they couldn’t dictate to him what to do. That’s what none of them want."

After Chelsea’s trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City on Sunday, they will prepare for a London derby against Fulham in midweek. Domestic cup fixtures against Charlton Athletic and Arsenal will then follow later in January.