Lampard appointment at Chelsea not expected until next week — report

Petr Čech’s announcement as Chelsea technical director (or something close to that) should be imminent at some point today, and once that’s done, the announcement of a new head coach, widely expected to be Frank Lampard, should not be far behind.

But that “not far” is probably not happening this week, contrary to earlier reports. Then again, Sarri’s departure was confirmed on a Sunday.

Of course, nothing’s ever certain in football and you never truly know and all those usual cliches, but for a good while now, Lampard has been in pole position, and not just because of his Chelsea history but also due to the general unavailability of most other big name alternatives, linked or not linked with the job. For example, Max Allegri plans to take a year off. Luis Enrique has personal issues to attend to. And so on and so forth

Yesterday, another tenuously linked candidate was taken off the market, as Ajax Amsterdam confirmed that manager Erik ten Hag signed a new three-year contract extension, tying him to the Dutch champions and Champions League semifinalist for the next three years ... or at least until the next big job in world football opens up that might use some fresh coaching ideas.

And so we continue to wait. All signs continue to point to Lampard, even if the timeline keeps slipping. Preseason starts in a few weeks!