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Brendan Rodgers has established himself as the bookies’ favorite to be Chelsea’s next boss as the pressure mounts on Frank Lampard.
Chelsea fell to a fourth defeat in their last six games against Manchester City on Sunday after a terrible first half in which they conceded three goals in the first 34 minutes.
Despite a £ 253 million splurge in the summer window, Chelsea are eighth in the table after 17 games, three points behind the top four and seven adrift of leader Liverpool.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has an infamous reputation for merciless firing of managers, and Lampard is now believed to be walking a tightrope.
The favorite to replace him is Rodgers, who has Leicester third in the table and just one point behind the pace.
Leicester missed qualifying for the Champions League on the final day of last season, but has morphed into a top-four challenger since Rodgers replaced Claude Puel nearly two years ago.
It would be an impressive comeback for Rodgers, who joined Chelsea’s academy head youth coach with José Mourinho in 2004.
He then worked as a reserve team manager at the club and kept his job with Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari, before taking the reins at Watford in 2008.
He is 3/1 to replace Lampard, while recently deposed PSG boss Thomas Tuchel is the second seed at 5/1 odds.
Julian Nagelsmann, who led RB Leipzig to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, is back at 6/1, while Massimiliano Allegri, who has been out of work since leaving Juventus 18 months ago, is 7 /1.
But there is a surprise inclusion for Rafa Benitez on 10/1, who had an infamous stint as Chelsea’s interim manager in the 2012-13 season.
Although the Spaniard won the Europa League, he was not overly pleased by the Chelsea fan base due to the rivalry that grew out of his six years in charge of Liverpool.
Behind Benítez is Lampard’s former teammate, current Aston Villa assistant and Chelsea legend John Terry. The former club captain, who lifted the Champions League in 2012 and five league titles, has made no secret of his desire to lead the Blues in the future.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo (1/14) and England’s Gareth Southgate (1/20) are also on the list.
Lampard insisted Sunday that he was not bothered by questions about his future despite Manchester City’s demoralizing collapse.
He said: ‘Right now, we are in a difficult period. I understand because I played here for a long time. I understand that the moment you lose a few games in a short amount of time everyone is watching and asking questions.
Then everyone sees it differently and says you spent so much money.
I will always feel the heat. I felt the heat when we were on our hot streak because I know there may be something negative around the corner.
‘I am not going to speak for the people above me because I can never do that. That’s why I couldn’t answer a month ago about my new contract, I can’t answer what they are thinking now, but it is what it is.
“My job is to focus on work, not what they are thinking, that would distract me and I can’t do it.”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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