Blank Lampard

STAND-IN BOSS FRANK CANNOT STOP SLIDE AT SAD BLUES

- MIKE WALTERS

GOODNESS knows what Mauricio Pochettino made of this dismal surrender.

In the battle for ninth place, interim Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is struggling to stay relevant after falling to a 13th defeat in his last 14 games as a manager.

And if former Tottenham messiah Pochettino, in advanced talks about taking over as head coach at Stamford Bridge this summer, was tuning in, he would have found Newsnight more reassuring than Match of the Day highlights on the other channel.

Rarely, if ever, in the last 20 years has a derby under the Fulham Broadway lights felt like such a chore for Chelsea fans.

At this stage of the season, they are usually rolling up for cup finals or camped on the Premier League’s upper slopes. But they have made such a dog’s breakfast of the last nine months that, three managers and £600million later, they are on course to finish below Brentford and Fulham in the West London & District Midweek Combination.