Former Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins denies Blues return, praises youngsters and Frank Lampard
Ray Wilkins, the former Chelsea first team assistant manager, revealed he had not been approached by the Blues to make a return to the London side as previously reported by the media.
Having sacked Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the last season, Chelsea are currently without a manager, because of which they have not been able to make any signings in the summer transfer window.
However, they have been linked with quite a few of Europe’s top manager’s during that time, with Guus Hiddink emerging as the eventual http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Victor-c36011.
The Dutchman is in charge of the Turkish national side, but is expected to take up the manager’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 at Stamford Bridge if Chelsea make a solid offer.
Even though nothing has been confirmed as yet, there were rumours that Hiddink wanted Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to bring back Wilkins.
Wilkins was sacked last season in November, something which is thought to have cause the Blues worst slump in over 15 years, which cost them their season.
Not only were Chelsea unable to retain their English Premier League crown and FA Cup trophy, they had to fight for a Champions League finish.
It was rumoured that possible future Chelsea manager Hiddink had asked Abramovich to reappoint Wilkins, something the Englishman denied.
Wilkins revealed he had not been approached by Chelsea with an offer to take up his old position at the club. He said in an interview:
“No, not at all.”
However, he said he was hopeful about the Dutch manager taking over the London side, having managed them before for a brief period in the 2008-2009 season.
Hiddink took over as caretaker manager towards the end of the season, after Luiz http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Felipe-c13510 Scolari was sacked for not being able to deliver the expected results.
Hiddink managed to do exceptionally well with an out of form Chelsea side, leading them to a much anticipated FA Cup trophy.
Despite being treated so harshly by the owner of the London club, Wilkins had positive things to say about his former club.
There has been undue criticism regarding the Blues youth academy and some of the senior players, like Frank Lampard.
He revealed he was confident the young stars emerging from the Blues youth academy would flourish and soon go on to be top players.
Wilkins said:
“The youngsters will be (good enough for first-team football).
Probably because of the lack of games they have had, they are not quite at the right level but they certainly have the talent to do so.”
The former Chelsea http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 midfielder, Lampard, who has had more than his fair share of criticism.
The former Chelsea assistant manager continued:
“You only have to see when Frank came back and the amount of goals he scored.
It was a phenomenal amount. So don’t worry too much about http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Frank-Lampard-c14097.”
Even at 33 years old, Lampard is an important part of the current Chelsea squad and looks to continue on as such in the upcoming seasons.
Tags: