Premier League table from Frank Lampard’s interim spell at Chelsea | OneFootball

During the final weary press conference ahead of a merciful end to his interim spell as Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard signed off: "I wish the new manager well. It's his problem, I guess."

Mauricio Pochettino met with Chelsea's buffoonish board when Thomas Tuchel was sacked back in September but - unwittingly or otherwise - sidestepped a bin-fire of a season before his belated appointment in May. Fortunately for the feted Argentine, Lampard is not a tough act to follow.

Chelsea's all-time top scorer had done his best to sully a stellar reputation at Stamford Bridge by returning for an eleven-game limp to the end of the season. While a pair of defeats against reigning European champions Real Madrid is hardly embarrassing, Chelsea's Premier League performance under Lampard was utterly woeful.

Premier League table from Frank Lampard’s interim spell at Chelsea

Across nine Premier League games at the helm of Chelsea this season - delving into his dire tenure at Everton makes for an even bleaker affair - Lampard collected one solitary win and five meagre points.

Based solely on the top-flight matches since Chelsea proudly announced the return of the 'Premier League Hall of Famer', the Blues would be slumped inside the relegation zone. Only Southampton and Leeds - two of the clubs that finished the actual season below the dotted line - collected fewer points than Chelsea in this period.

Leicester City joined that dreadful duo in the drop zone but earned more wins, goals and points than Chelsea under Lampard's watch. Everton outperformed Chelsea and avoided the drop - no thanks to Lampard.

The Toffees were 19th when Lampard was eventually sacked by Everton in January. In two fewer games, Sean Dyche collected six more points than Lampard could muster from the helm at Goodison Park.

The setting for Chelsea's single win under their former player - an away trip to a Bournemouth side effectively safe from relegation - was arguably the kindest fixture during an admittedly tough run for Lampard. By way of some mitigation, the average league position of Chelsea's opponents under Lampard was 7.7 - the lowest (and thereby the highest quality) among any side in the division.

Brighton were the only other side in the division to face all four members of the Premier League's top four after Lampard's appointment - although, the Seagulls did breeze to a 2-1 win away to Chelsea during this sequence, the club's first-ever victory at Stamford Bridge.

Even under Tuchel, Graham Potter and Bruno Saltor, Chelsea failed to defeat any team that started the day above them in the Premier League table this term (D5 L12).

When Lampard accepted the offer to become Chelsea's interim in April, he admitted that it was a 'pretty easy decision'. Given the dire aftermath of that appointment, turning to Pochettino instead of the beleaguered ex-boss must have required the same lack of mental exertion.