The Lamp’s Out?

The beleaguered Frank Lampard has come under heavy criticism for one’s managerial record, but should that be the case, and to suggest going overboard with the constant berating. The galleries are loaded up with the pundit Frank’s gripes then they start to believe, “Frank washing”, wrong perceptions perhaps? From being the devil incarnate one week, to becoming Genghis Khan the next, that’s the football beast give it a wink. In defence of Frank, the entire management network becomes surplus to requirements. Does that make them bad managers? Losing results, bad luck, circumstances, one hand tied behind the back, hierarchy squabbling, the list can go on. But to be perfectly Frank, there is no picture perfect.

Frank’s manager starting point in 2018 came at Derby County, taking the Rams to the Championship play-off final after finishing sixth in the League, with a ratioed management stat of forty eight percent. In comparison, Wayne Rooney’s tenure at Derby petered out at twenty seven percent, with the Roon lorded at Derby alongside a section of the press core. Believe the hype and follow the narrative, give the beast a slap. The Chelsea, Chelsea came calling and Lampard became the club’s manager during the Covid season, guiding the Londoners to a fourth placed finish. As for midterm into Frank’s second season choppy waters prevailed and the sacking of another Chelsea manager with the shelf life always cut short under the Roman Abramovich. Influx of new players and the pressure to deliver quickly became the beating clock, and Frank fell on his own sword of trying to cut the mustard too quicky.

Everton came calling in Jan 2022 to the tune of Z Cars with Frank’s arrival on Merseyside to release another beleaguered manager of his duties the Rafa Benitez, the brief to stave off relegation. On May v Crystal Palace a 3 to 2 win became mission accomplished, Frank the saviour. It all dissipated six months later, with a sequence of losing results leading to the belief that Everton would get relegated, exit Frank. A managerial stat of 27.27 percent placed Lampard as the second worse manager in Everton’s history ahead of Mike Walker on 17.7 percent. So, should we ignore that stat? The relegation trap door did. So, would Lampard have taken Everton down five months into another season? We will never know, but the sacking felt right in many quarters. Frank’s stat at Chelsea beavered to 52.4 percent. So, do the stats lie? We will never know, is that right? A second calling came to the Chelsea Chelsea at the fag end of the 2022-23 season for Chelsea with a fresh brief to hold the fort. Defeat after defeat followed, cheers lads, set the team up and be the shining light till the end of the season, turn the lamp on, but Frank was shell shocked from the one year turbulence at Everton, football’s traumatic stress syndrome. It is all relative with everything to be considered and judged fairly, has Frank been given a fair hearing, it’s time to be perfectly Frank.

A Net Buster?

Back on the gravy train, the Beckham’s Netflix documentary surprised? The dollars speak louder than words, a self-promotional sanitizer lorded, the classic pat on the back syndrome. The public relations bullshit continues to filter the green goodies into the DB bank vaults. So, who are the mugs? Do they actually like the Beckham’s gospel? They’re out there, praise the Lord. Not to be too divided, the Manero lauds David Beckham’s playing career, link to article dated August 2^nd 2018 ‘Two English Icons’, but the hypocrisy that’s attached to the brand disappoints.

Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury’s fixed points win decision v the MMA (Mixed Martial Artist) fighter James Ngannou volcanoed the boxing world into submission for the so-called boxing experts. During flight time and post fight, Fury looked the shell of a man. Shocked, glazed eyes, the invincibility shot to bits, psychologically cannon balled. Fury tried to push and bully Ngannou down with the physicality, but Fury felt the Cameroon man’s alpha male strength with the gypsy king scrambling around the ring like a crazed child looking for a sweet looking to offload at distance, the cheeks were puffing, the self-belief had quickly evaporated, Fury hit the canvas in round three to rise from the embers, torched but without the flames. Fury’s father John during one’s boxing career would hit the canvas like a tree trunk, it’s in the family tree ‘fallen’.

Tyson’s brother Tommey has stolen a living as a talentless boxer on the back of fighting the make pretend YouTube boxers, the Fury’s farmed out to the same homestead on gypsy farm, watch those chickens scurry away, will silence be their end game? Tyson Fury has long laid claim to being the best heavyweight of all time, that theory cannot be schooled any more, no legacy now, a laughingstock. The Fury camp post fight interviews were cancelled, they dropped their heads and hid behind the curtains. Ngannou’s trainer, the boxing icon Mike Tyson, kept repeating prefight “and now we have the new heavyweight champion of the world”, the joke’s on Fury a beaten man, but not on the score card?