Bobby Seagull: When Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich appointed Lampard 18 months back, they knew they were getting an inexperienced manager who had Chelsea DNA in him. Is this sacking a sign of impatience in modern football or just Roman being true to form?

• A total of 35 different players appeared for Chelsea under Frank Lampard, with Mason Mount leading the way for appearances (80), while Tammy Abraham was the top scorer (29) under him.
• Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in just 17% of their away games in the Premier League under Frank Lampard (5/29); among those to have taken charge of 10+ away games in the competition, this is the lowest percentage of any Chelsea manager.

So a little while ago, Chelsea confirmed earlier reports that they were about to sack their head coach.

The 42-year-old's dismissal came less than 24 hours after the Blues beat Championship side Luton 3-1 to reach the FA Cup fifth round.

Last week's defeat at Leicester City left Chelsea eighth in the table, having won once in their past five Premier League matches.

Lampard was the 10th full-time manager appointed by Roman Abramovich since the billionaire bought the club in 2003.

Having finished with 66 points last season after 20 wins and 12 defeats, Chelsea have lost six times in their opening 19 league games this season.

At the time he said: "I am not naive. I understand fans want success. I don't see this as a risk. I am not fearful of the downsides."

Many of the reports have speculated that former Dortmund and PSG man Thomas Tuchel is about to step in.

Former Juve boss Max Allegri is second in the odds, while... er... former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko is also one of the bookmakers' favourites.

Oh and Rafa Benitez is free, Chelsea fans...

Image source, .

• Since the start of last season, Chelsea have won 95 points in the Premier League under Frank Lampard; the fifth most behind Liverpool (133), Man City (119), Man Utd (106) and Leicester City (100).
• Since the start of last season, only Newcastle (54) have conceded more away goals in the Premier League than Frank Lampard’s Chelsea (50).

Peter Josi: Chelsea are totally right to sack Lampard, he lacked the experience or coaching prowess to lead the side. The next phase should start with an investigation into our transfer policy and how our last two record signings turned out to be flops.

Fil Harris: Isn’t the whole point of appointing a younger manager to give him time to build and develop? Craziness from Chelsea to sack Lampard after such a short time

Manchester United kept faith with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and now look at the results.

Arsenal stuck with Mikel Arteta, and the Gunners are doing much better now.

Have Chelsea made the right decision?

And here's owner Roman Abramovich:

"This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him’.

"He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers.

"On behalf of everyone at the club, the board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as head coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge."

Here's Chelsea's statement:

"This has been a very difficult decision, and not one that the owner and the board have taken lightly.

"We are grateful to Frank for what he has achieved in his time as head coach of the club. However, recent results and performances have not met the club’s expectations, leaving the club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement.

"There can never be a good time to part ways with a club legend such as Frank, but after lengthy deliberation and consideration it was decided a change is needed now to give the club time to improve performances and results this season."

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has produced this graphic showing that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has spent a pretty penny on pay-offs for former managers.

How much will Lampard get?

He signed a three-year deal in July 2019. Reports at the time suggested he was on £5.5m a year.

Leeds United

Let's hear now from Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa.

It seems like an age since the Elland Road side last played, 10 days tomorrow in fact.

They were last in action against Brighton on 16 January losing 1-0.

"Given the 10 day period that we've had, it allows us more time to implement the corrections."

Here are a couple of Lampard stats:

• His points per game average of 1.67 is the fourth lowest of any permanent Chelsea manager in the Premier League.
• In the Roman Abramovich era, only Andre Villas-Boas (47.5%) has a worse win rate in all competitions amongst permanent Chelsea managers than Lampard (52.4%).

The Turbo Bear: So Tuchel in for Lampard? Bad trade if you ask me. Tuchel was mediocre at Dortmund, and PSG is basically on autoplay. He will get conflicted with people very soon.

Darren Yan: I'm surprised there are still coaches who want to join #CFC, external. This club thinks it's #RealMadrid, external and destined to win titles every year. It's no wonder all coaches never last for more than 3 seasons there.

These pressers are always a bad omen aren't they?

Unless you're Steve Bruce, of course.

This Lampard news conference came before their 3-1 win over Luton in the FA Cup.