Term-X

Wouldn't be surprised if Frank follows Patrick Vieira and becomes a part of the furniture for the City family, he's going to be contracted to them either way. Vierira isn't 'Football Development Executive' anymore, he's now 'Elite Development squad exec', so there's a position available for Frank; and we all know he'll go where the money is.

Nice article by Jake Cohen covering this system.. http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/8/4/5964691/romelu-lukaku-everton-chelsea-finances Part of the reason costs are so low is because for Chelsea's best prospects, not only are their wages covered by the loanee club, but there's a loan fee on top of that. For example, the combined FFP cost of Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, and Victor Moses was £2.5m last season (or less than two months worth of Fernando Torres).

No reason why he can't do what Beckham (when he trained with Arsenal 'unofficially') did and call in a favour with uncle Harry. A few sub appearances here and there for our direct rivals just isn't substantial enough to be justified.

He doesn't live with his family, do you think Frank's ex is bringing herself and the kids to New York? The point is, and I'm not sure why you're taking us go around in circles here, is that ALL of this was 'his' choice, it wasn't a catch 22. What the fuck did Frank think was going to happen when he signed for a City owned club that doesn't exist yet.

Part of Frank Lampard's 'brand' and why he's the figure he is, is because he's marketed himself as 'proper chels' like John Terry. The same reason Gerrard's face is all over the Liverpool pencil cases and bed spreads. This guy is a fraud, not just a judas.. he hasn't handled himself with class or shown respect to the fans since leaving. He told people he would never join another PL club, he stressed how difficult it would be. Whatever beef he has with the current board is not as far as Chelsea stretches, he should have thought about his legacy and the fans.

He's made a substantial amount not just as a football player, but as a Chelsea ambassador on par with John Terry. This is not a wage slave/real world employee situation, this is a special case; in which the current board of Chelsea are not the bottom line. Nobody forced him to sign for a City affiliated club in the first place, this loan conundrum has been created by Frank, he's not a victim of it.

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse.. "He told me in the first week in July that he would not go to any other Premier League club"

Or not sign for the City family in the first place. This is a guy who supposedly has a high I.Q, and people suppose he was naive enough to think this wasn't inevitable.

When you become a cult icon and symbol of the club.. that transcends what you've done during a playing career. Football is about tribalism, Lampard isn't just a former employee like Salomon Kalou.. he's Chelsea personified. That 'responsibility' you are questioning is dealing with the fact you're an ambassador of the club. It's the relationship you have with the fans, saying what he said in 2013 demonstrates a lack of class and respect. Signing for the family of our direct rivals in the first place, goes to show this guy has no affinity with Chelsea. Bringing up the 9/11 stunt and the AVB sabotage was about context in relation to this, not selective memory.

Everton & Liverpool are clubs we can afford to sell to, that just leaves United.. We're yet to see how Mata will fit into van Gaal's plans as the season progresses. When we sold him there wasn't a real 'need' on United's part, not an area they needed to strengthen with a player that has his limitations. Mourinho had no plans for him, and United were the ONLY club interested. I think we can safely say we'd never sell Hazard domestically.

^ Lampard advocated the mind games the minute he signed the contract. Who do you blame, the guy who pushed the button or the guy who manufactured the button?

Mourinho wanted to in regards to Mata & Lukaku, so that's enough of a reason.

A Selling club in football terms is a club that has it's players 'taken' from them, like Southampton or Atletico Madrid. Hate to patronise you, but we really shouldn't be seeing the club referred to as such.

Doesn't really change anything mate, in fact.. if anything it makes it worse. Especially since he could have trained and ran around cones anywhere. Beckham trained with Arsenal to stay fit for LA, Lamps could have done that with uncle Harry at QPR 'unofficially'. And then of course, 'the crux of the issue' is that he shouldn't have signed for a City affiliated club in the first place.

^ Surely there's better out there than firstrow..

Well, of course it was, it doesn't get bigger than winning the CL in club football.. especially the way they did it.

The quotes.. 'in context' were to take the sting away with his "but.. I'm not in love with italian football" comment. Italians in general are more visually passionate & expressive people than us English, so I can understand that view.

True, and even if we put the economic reasons to aside for a second.. The coverage on Chelsea TV is horribly presented, they ruin every season review dvd with their shitty commentary. Competition from Sky/BT etc results in better coverage..

He signed for £55m, unless a formation change is set in stone, I can't see us giving PSG a good return on investment.

I was concerned about the sheer number of games this pre-season, but at least the mileage has been short. The only reason we haven't gone to america or asia is because of the world cup.

Oh ffs, here we go again with the real world employee comparisons, this is not Salomon Kalou.. this is a cult figure. Lampard's status at this club comes with it responsibility, Cole & Drogba handled themselves with class when they left; why can't Frank show the same respect to the fans and his legacy.

I don't have the video footage, the moment we saw him 'having a laugh' with a smile like a cheshire cat on his face though, the match thread blew up. People saying things like the 'players won' etc. Funny how it works, we've 'conveniently' forgotten about that.

When something happens to a club you love, you delude yourselfs into being happy with the situation, because you have no control over it. Lampard always had this dark side about him tbf, I remember him smiling and laughing the game after AVB was sacked; he knew the camera was on him.

I thought he would have learned from the 9/11 stunt or the AVB incident.. No class. He should have consulted with Didier, Ash & JT before signing with the City family in the first place. No class, no respect.

You answered it yourself 'romantic narrative', 'proper chels' who weathered era's we'll never see again. People need to stop treating this like the current board are Chelsea and Lamps has the right to flip them the middle finger, Chelsea is bigger than the current circumstances. Stop comparing this to real world employee scenarios, Lampard should have known his responsibility as a cult figure.