Frank Lampard nominated for Premier League Manager of the Year

Chelsea may be finishing the season without a trophy (barring another Champions League miracle) and with a highly disappointing loss in the FA Cup final, but that shouldn’t take away from the excellent job Frank Lampard’s done in his first season as Chelsea manager in what was just his second season overall in football management.

Those latter two shouldn’t really factor into any overall assessment of course, but they do provide some perspective. Just like Lampard’s young Chelsea team, Lampard himself is learning on the job, improving day to day, becoming a better head coach through first-hand experience. He’s not perfect, neither are the team. But we’re on the right path.

A recognition like this is an acknowledgement of that progress — as well as the circumstances that actually mattered, such as the transfer ban.

Lampard is unlikely to win, nor should he. Jürgen Klopp ended thirty years of frustration at Liverpool, crowing a five-year project with a Premier League title. Brendan Rodgers and especially Chris Wilder both overachieved even more significantly with Leicester City (their second best finish ever) and newly promoted Sheffield United, respectively, than Lampard has with Chelsea.

You can vote for whoever you think deserves it most, here.