INTERIM COACHES ALL THE RAGE IN MAD PERIOD IN EPL

In a crazy eight-day span, three of English soccer's biggest clubs thought it best to get rid of their widely respected managers without having any real plan to replace them. No wonder so many say...

Chelsea is days away from playing Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals. Tottenham is engaged in a nip-and-tuck race for a finish in the English Premier League top four. Leicester is in an even tighter fight to avoid dropping out of England’s lucrative top division. All three clubs have very different objectives heading into the final weeks of the season. Yet, in one respect, they are in the same position.

None of them have a permanent manager.

In a crazy eight-day span, three of English soccer's biggest clubs thought it best to get rid of their widely respected managers without having any real plan to replace them. No wonder so many say the business of soccer operates in a world of its own. So, Chelsea heads into its league match against Wolverhampton on Saturday with Frank Lampard as temporary cover for the fired Graham Potter. The same Lampard who wasn't deemed capable enough to lead a team battling relegation — Everton fired him in January — and who Chelsea itself sacked two years ago.