Guardiola was very much channelling his inner Red from Shawshank Redemption, when he said: "I hope to see Frank soon and go to a restaurant with him when lockdown finished."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says "projects and ideas" don’t exist in football and the only currency that matters in the current game is results.

Guardiola has never been sacked after successful stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich before joining City in 2016.

However, Frank Lampard has become the latest rival to lose his job, despite finishing fourth in his first season in charge and being top of the table last month.

"People talk about projects and ideas," he said. "They don’t exist. You have to win or you will be replaced.

"I am not judging Chelsea’s decision. I respect their decision. But our world is to win as much as possible. The sporting directors and CEOs want things quickly but every manager needs time to do what they believe. That happens in a few places around the world. In one month you can drop everything you build because other teams have good players too. Then you are at risk.

"I hope to see Frank soon and go to a restaurant with him when lockdown is finished."

Tony Bartlett: It really doesn’t matter who Chelsea have as manager, it’s Mr Abramovich who signs the players and decides how he wants them to play. As a United supporter, I feel sad for Frank here, he deserves better.

Saroj Gurung: Why not give Gerrard a chance to finally fulfil his dream move to Chelsea and replace Frank Lampard ?

Leeds United

Marcelo Bielsa gave an update on his team's injuries as they attempt to do the double over Newcastle.

The Leeds boss confirmed that keeper Illan Meslier is fit again and could return between the sticks at St James' Park but Robin Koch and Gaetano Berardi will again miss out.

“Illan Meslier has resolved his health issues.

“There’s no new news, Robin Koch and Gaetano Berardi still remain out."

Leeds United

Tuesday's opponents Newcastle are winless in their last eight Premier League games but the Leeds boss is not focusing too much on that and more on his own side.

“It’s not so much about the rival, but about what we can do to hurt the opponent.

“Whilst having knowledge of the opponent is something we have to take into account, it’s about facing another team and trying to be superior to them.

“We analysed the difficulties of the opponent, but of course we worry more about our own difficulties.

“Our difficulties are just as present as theirs, as in every game, we will try to improve ourselves as a team.

“It’s not a rivals poor run of form that will help us to improve, we have to improve.”

Crystal Palace

Here's more from Hodgson, who he coached when they were together at England: "I shall speak to him in the next few days but I won't give him any advice unless he asks for it.

"Unfortunately Chelsea is a massive club and they have this record of changing managers when the results are not what they are looking for."

Hodgson adds: "In the Premier League it's the amount of money that is generated and the fear of missing out on the money.

"I'm afraid we've been seeing a trend for a long time that your chances of staying get lesser with every year that passes by."

Steven McNamara: No surprise for me, they sacked AVB quicker who had a miles better pedigree, amongst others, Lampard is awful tactically, only got the job because of his name, that's just the reality of it.

Andrew Neill: Tuchel, Allegri and Benitez all been linked with Chelsea over the last hour or so. Can Newcastle have whoever's left? Please.

You've not mentioned Lampard there Andrew...

Crystal Palace

Hodgson on Chelsea's sacking of Frank Lampard: "It saddens me. I thought he did an excellent job last season.

"I was rather hoping that the idol of the fans and Chelsea legend that he is, he'd get a longer shot than 18 months.

"Managers who have had short stays at Chelsea have gone on to have good careers elsewhere.

"When you're sacked for the first time, it is a devastating blow. There's no doubt he has a pedigree to be a very good manager."

Crystal Palace

Hodgson on signing striker Jean-Philippe Mateta on an 18-month loan deal: "Yes, he's looking good. Pleased to have him here - we've chased him for a period of time.

"We're hoping he'll do as well as we anticipate he can."

Hodgson added that he won't play against the Hammers.

Sunday's FA Cup fourth round clash between Manchester United and Liverpool pulled in a peak audience of 9.2m across TV and Red Button and an average match audience of 8.1m.

Also on the BBC, Cheltenham Town v Manchester City attracted a peak TV audience of 5.8m and Chelsea and Luton Town on the Sunday got 3.8m.

• Since August 2019, Chelsea have won just 15 points against fellow ‘big six’ sides, a joint-low tally alongside Arsenal. The Blues have scored 17 goals and conceded 28 times in 15 such matches.
• Chelsea have kept 13 clean sheets in 29 games in all competitions this season, the same tally as they kept in 55 matches in the whole of 2019-20.

We have Premier League pre-match news conferences with the managers of Brighton, Leicester, West Ham and Southampton.

We wonder what they'll be asked about...

This is from The Athletic journalist David Ornstein:, external

"Thomas Tuchel is currently in Germany: subject to a negative Covid test he should be in London within 48 hours. Chelsea are working on a quarantine situation, but they hope he’ll be exempt as he's joining an elite sports environment. Announcement likely Tuesday."

Simon Kirk: Been a Chelsea fan since 1969 and have never been so annoyed at a sacking of a Chelsea manager. He needed at least another 18 months. Shame on you Abramovich and the Chelsea board for supporting such a decision.

Ryan Howard: I find it such a weird sacking - a month or so ago Chelsea were in a nice groove, Zouma and Silva were scoring and keeping clean sheets, now after one bad run he gets sacked. Chelsea could be a world class club if they just gave a manager proper time to build a team.

John Clarke: Frank Lampard takes some of the blame for poor tactical use of expensive resources in recent games. This does not absolve a number of players whose performances hung him out to dry. Tough times and conditions but long hard look in the mirror needed. Thanks Frank!

Olly Smith: The sacking of Frank Lampard makes it incredibly tough to be a Chelsea fan. In his first run of poor form, in a condensed and one of a kind season, disrupted from the off. Chelsea never learn, why would you want to manage them at this point...

It seems the current sentiment is definitely one of surprise among Chelsea fans and general supporters of football.

Did Lampard deserve to lose his job following this recent slump in the team's league form?

Will Thomas Tuchel make the necessary changes to ensure that the Blues are once again among the title challengers?

Samuel Benjamin: What about Emma Hayes for Chelsea men? She hasn’t lost in over a year in league and her team always seem to play for her. Would a fantastic choice I think.

Alistair Magowan
BBC Sport

BBC Sport understands that Frank Lampard was sacked by Chelsea because the club could not see him reversing a slide in form and a lack of confidence among the squad.

The former head coach's points per game ratio was the worst among Chelsea managers in the Roman Abramovich era, eclipsing that of Andre Villas-Boas, and it led to what was seen as irreparable damage to the season.

After qualifying for the Champions League last season, and spending more than £200m on players in the summer, the aim this campaign was to close the gap on leaders, but that has failed to materialise.

Although links will be made between Tuchel's heritage and the poor form of fellow Germans Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, the change was made because of the lack of confidence among the whole squad.