Lamps shining out: Frank fires four to keep Grant believing in title
Chelsea 6 Derby 1


By NEIL ASHTON - More by this author »

Last updated at 23:49pm on 12th March 2008



Reeling one minute, Avram Grant would have you believe that Chelsea
are reeling in their Barclays Premier League title rivals the next.

For that, he has Frank Lampard to thank. Left out of the side beaten
by Championship strugglers Barnsley in the FA Cup quarterfinal last
week , the Chelsea midfielder was restored to the team and responded
in quite remarkable fashion.

He scored four times, admittedly against the worst team ever to play
in the Barclays Premier League ((c) Paul Jewell), as Chelsea began
what Grant optimistically believes is a charge towards the title.

They eventually rattled in six, cuffing Jewell's pathetic side aside
with astonishing ease, to move within five points of leaders Arsenal
with a game in hand.

Lampard pointed to the stands after each of his goals. Perhaps he
would have been better off pointing at the manager.

At least the captain called it correctly. 'The result and the
performance at Barnsley was not acceptable,' wrote John Terry in last
night's programme notes. 'Everyone in the team must take their fair
share of responsibility.'

Everyone, it appears, except the manager. Grant ignored the worst
Chelsea performance in recent memory in his typically uninspiring
address to the supporters and chose, instead, to thank them for
travelling to South Yorkshire.

The official line is that Lampard was injured last weekend. The jungle
drums suggest he would have been the first name on the team sheet if
it had been a match Chelsea believed was in the balance.


This one never was. From the moment Lampard scored from the spot after
28 minutes, the game was beyond this desperate Derby side.

Why wait another nine games before they are booted back to the
Championship? They should be sent back now. The industrious Kenny
Miller aside, Derby were nothing short of a disgrace.

Chelsea scored again three minutes before the break when Carroll's
dreadful clearance fell invitingly for Salomon Kalou to send a
sweetly-taken half-volley into an empty net from 25 yards. They had a
taste for it now.

Lampard converted Joe Cole's cross on 57 minutes, and the match ball
was his when Carroll palmed Nicolas Anelka's effort into his path nine
minutes later.

By then, Cole had scored the goal his incisive performance deserved in
the 64th minute, but Lampard left an indelible mark on the game when
his left-foot strike streaked past Carroll.

Is he sitting out Sunderland on Saturday then, Avram? 'He has scored
over 100 goals for Chelsea and now his target is 150,' said Grant. 'I
am sure he can do it.'

Much depends on whether Lampard's long-running contract dispute can be
resolved. He scored the third hat-trick of his Chelsea career last
night, but this was his first in the Premier League. A class act, he
remains an important cog.

'Negotiations are not my area, but the club want Frank to stay and
Frank wants to stay,' added Grant.

'He is a very important member of the team and he can always make a
difference.'

Last night, Lampard was the difference and Chelsea finished this game
playing something resembling 4-2-4 — all-out attack against a team who
are out of time.

'I might not bother turning up on Saturday for Manchester United,'
admitted Jewell. 'We were outclassed, but at least that means there is
one less game to play. 'Once again, the supporters were our best
player. I was squirming in my seat because this was heavyweights
against ABA lightweights.

'The personnel will change next season, that is for sure. I didn't
think a team could give in as easily as that. Not enough of this team
has desire.'

Miller aside, none of them had it. David Jones, on as a late
substitute, pulled a goal back for Derby, but the club are doomed.

They were blitzed at Stamford Bridge, brushed aside by a team that has
been brooding ever since that embarrassing loss at Barnsley.

'We are still in with a chance of winning the major trophies,' claimed
Grant. In that case, he had better win one of them.
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Telegraph:

Frank Lampard leads Chelsea rout of Derby
By John Ley


Chelsea (2) 6 Derby County (0) 1

Frank Lampard ensured normal service was resumed at Stamford Bridge
last night, when Chelsea forgot their FA Cup pain to lead the Rams to
their latest slaughter. Lampard's four goals took Chelsea to within
five points of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a game in hand, and
three points behind second-placed Manchester United.

Both teams must visit Stamford Bridge, so those who believe Chelsea
could finish the season without a trophy count them out of the title
race only at their peril. As for Derby, they are in danger of becoming
the worst ever team in the Premier League; with just nine games to go
they have 10 points and a goal difference of minus 49.

Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, made five changes from the team
humiliated at Barnsley with Paulo Ferreira, Ashley Cole, Frank
Lampard, Salomon Kalou and Claude Makelele all returning. But,
surprisingly, there was no place for Didier Drogba.

The Ivory Coast striker, rested on Saturday with a slight knock, was
on the bench, but again Grant decided he could not start with both
Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, fuelling more speculation that the former's
days at Stamford Bridge are coming to an end.

Drogba has started only three games since early December, so his
fitness may be a contributing factor to his place as a substitute,
alongside the returning Andrei Shevchenko, back on the bench for only
the second time since Boxing Day.

John Terry, the Chelsea captain, warned before the game that the club
had to respond to the defeat at Oakwell. He wrote in the programme:
"The result and the performance weren't acceptable and everyone in the
team must take responsibility. Everyone needs to perform when
selected. We can't have any more days like Saturday. Losing [in] the
FA Cup was horrible."

Derby arrived with Robbie Savage back in midfield, as captain, after
being left out of the goalless draw against Sunderland. With 10
defeats and four draws under Paul Jewell, they started at odds of 20-1
to become the first team to win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier
League for more than four years.

Chelsea offered early signs that they would dispatch Derby in
merciless fashion. They forced their first corner within 48 seconds,
while only the right post prevented an opening goal in the third
minute. Anelka and Kalou combined for Lampard, who was allowed to
waltz through white shirts before sending his effort against woodwork.

When Derby were offered a chance, Kenny Miller avoiding the offside
trap, he shot like a striker whose side do not know how to score, the
ball arriving closer to the corner flag than the target.

Working on the theory that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong,
Derby had to make a defensive change after just 16 minutes when the
experienced Alan Stubbs, following a tangle with Anelka, had to be
replaced by Dean Leacock.

Despite their possession - the ball rarely left Derby's half in the
opening 45 minutes - Chelsea were struggling to atone for their poor
performance at Barnsley. Michael Ballack had the ball in the net after
20 minutes but was ruled offside while Joe Cole had one effort saved
and hit another wide.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 28th minute but it took a
penalty to split the two very different sides. Joe Cole's clever pass
was chased into the area by Lampard, but he had his ankles tapped by
Leacock and dispatched the kick to the right of Roy Carroll for his
14th goal of the season.

The second goal, in the 42nd minute, was a comedy of errors; Carroll
slid on his backside outside his area, in an attempt to clear from the
feet of Anelka and the ball fell to Kalou, who had the simple task of
turning the ball into an unguarded net.

Derby's second-half resistance, while commendable, was limited and in
the 57th minute Joe Cole exchanged passes with Anelka, resisted a
challenge from Stephen Pearson and rolled the ball across goal for
Lampard to tap in his second of the night.

In the 64th minute Chelsea added their fourth with Anelka's shot
parried by Roy Carroll and Joe Cole converting the rebound.

Lampard's hat-trick was completed in the 66th minute. His fourth, and
best, came seven minutes later when he met Ferreira's pass before
forcing his way into the area and finishing well.

Derby responded a minute later, when David Jones capitalised on
Chelsea's celebrations to claim only their sixth away goal of the
campaign.
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Indy:

Chelsea 6 Derby County 1: Lampard hits four as Derby reel under Chelsea backlash
By Glenn Moore
Thursday, 13 March 2008


There can be few better sights for a beleaguered Premier League
manager than Derby County's coach pulling up outside the ground. So it
proved last night as Chelsea put their Oakwell nightmare behind them
with a brutal dissection of the Premier League's bottom club.

While the quality of the opposition has to be taken into account,
there was no disguising Chelsea's desire to make a statement, nor
their capacity to do so. The victory brought them within five points
of leaders Arsenal, with a game in hand and the Gunners due at the
Bridge in 10 days' time. A season mired in controversy may yet end in
triumph. "What happened on Saturday happened," said Grant in reference
to the FA Cup exit at Barnsley. "We were not happy but we know we need
to continue. So far in the league we have done well and we will fight
to the end."

Grant, who was booed by a few Chelsea fans as he took his seat, would
be entitled to have left with a broad smile on his face. Of course he
did not. Perhaps he was wise. The board will have noted the sub-par
attendance; 3,000 below capacity, the lowest league gate of the
season.

Those who stayed away missed a commanding performance from Frank
Lampard. Badly missed at Oakwell, he helped himself to four goals
here. Lampard's contract negotiations remain unresolved but Grant
said: "I think he will be here next season. I am almost sure about
it."

Joe Cole who, like Salomon Kalou, scored once, was equally responsible
for the rout. David Jones' late goal was no consolation.

"It was a world heavyweight champion against a lightweight," said
Derby's manager, Paul Jewell. "I spent the night squirming in my seat.
They are a great team, and we are not."

Jewell admits he has written this season off. Derby have won once, in
September, have collected 10 points from 29 games and are 16 points
adrift of safety, well on course to set new Premier League records for
least points won and most goals conceded. Chelsea, however, are the
"crisis club", with Grant said to be under pressure from a mutinous
dressing room and a discontented owner. They are third in the Premier
League and in the last eight of the Champions League. How Derby would
love a crisis like that.

Chelsea, though, do have to be judged differently because of their
spending, even if the brightness of the spotlight owes much to their
being based, with the national press, in the capital. The financial
aspect colours everything, even their progress to the FA Youth Cup
semi-finals, which is mentioned here because it was hailed pre-match
last night, perhaps to take minds off the FA Cup. It is a shame many
of Chelsea's youth players have been bought in.

The man with the mike could hardly be blamed for trying to lift a flat
atmosphere. Chelsea, showing five changes from Saturday as Grant
reverted, goalkeeper apart, to the team which had won 4-0 at Upton
Park, soon lifted the mood. Lampard, released by Kalou's clever
reverse pass in the second minute, rolled a shot past Roy Carroll only
to see it strike the post and bounce out.

A massacre loomed yet, two minutes later, Kenny Miller outwitted John
Terry to run on to a through-ball. He shot wildly but it was a warning
to take nothing for granted. Not that complacency was a problem,
Saturday's defeat was too fresh in the mind for that. The issue was
nerves, brought on by expectation and fear of a repeat of the Barnsley
fiasco.

Derby, though, did not set about Chelsea the way Barnsley had. Instead
they retreated into deep defence – perhaps because they were pitting a
central defence whose combined age was 69 against the pace of Nicolas
Anelka. That tactic was undermined when Alan Stubbs limped off to be
replaced by Dean Leacock. There is a reason Leacock has been displaced
by the thirtysomethings and his naďvety was revealed 11 minutes later
when he dived into a challenge on Lampard as the midfielder ran on to
Joe Cole's pass. Lampard slid home the penalty.

Miller then stretched Carlo Cudicini from an Eddie Lewis free-kick but
the siege quickly resumed. Under constant pressure a defence which has
been changed as often as Derby's is liable to break; so it did. Two
minutes before the interval Darren Moore dithered as Anelka chased a
Lampard pass and Carroll cleared hastily but only as far as Kalou, who
chipped into the empty goal.

Derby moved to 4-4-2 soon after the break but any hope of salvaging a
point soon disappeared. Anelka, who troubled Derby all night, linked
with Joe Cole whose low cross was tapped in by Lampard. That was the
first of four goals in 16 minutes. Joe Cole tapped in after Carroll
had denied Anelka. Lampard took a short pass from Kalou, strolled
forward and drove in from 25 yards to complete his hat-trick. He then
weaved around two defenders before sliding a shot inside the near
post. It was Lampard's first four-goal haul and took his tally to 17,
not bad for a "quiet" season.

Derby's long-suffering supporters were given some relief when Jones
scored their first goal for five hours and 44 minutes. Grant then
allowed Shevchenko a rare outing and Chelsea (coincidentally) lost
their menace. But Derby needed the respite. On Saturday they play
Manchester United.

"Did Chelsea look like a club in crisis?" Jewell was asked. "I was too
busy looking at our crisis," he replied.

Goals: Lampard (28) 1-0; Kalou (42) 2-0; Lampard (57) 3-0; J Cole (64)
4-0; Lampard (66) 5-0; Lampard (72) 6-0; Jones (73) 6-1.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cudicini; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele
(Essien, 73), Ballack (Drogba, 67), Lampard; J Cole (Shevchenko, 74),
Anelka, Kalou. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Alex.

Derby County (4-5-1): Carroll; Edworthy, Moore, Stubbs (Leacock, 16),
McEveley; Ghaly (Earnshaw, 52), Savage, Pearson, Lewis (Jones, 58),
Sterjovski; Miller. Substitutes not used: Price (gk), Villa, Earnshaw.

Booked: Derby McEveley.

Referee: C Foy (Lancashire)

Man of the match: Lampard.

Attendance: 39,447.
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The TimesMarch 13, 2008

Chelsea's gluttony at expense of Derby is sign of unhealthy trend
Chelsea 6 Derby 1

Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent

Every silver lining has a cloud and the good-news bulletins that
followed the arrival of four English teams in the Champions League
quarter-finals were swiftly followed by this terrifying reminder that
the gap between top and bottom in the Barclays Premier League is
seismic, fissure-like and growing.

Chelsea scored six, Frank Lampard alone got four and the truth is that
either tally could have doubled, such was the superiority of Avram
Grant's side.

The difference was embarrassing. As Lampard carved out a second-half
hat-trick in 15 minutes that also included a goal from Joe Cole,
anyone who cares for football would have felt uncomfortable with this
preposterous walkover. Lampard is an exceptional player, but, even so,
this is not right. This is not how it is meant to be.

So much of the game had the look of a training-ground exercise — and
some of the goals, too. Previously, looking at Derby County's forlorn
league record, one could be forgiven for asking if they really are as
bad as that. Sadly, the answer is yes. Paul Jewell inherited a team
well on their way to being confirmed as the worst in Premier League
history and has not been able to improve them.

Deep down, Chelsea will know the ultimate meaninglessness of this
scoreline, too. It is not even Derby's worst defeat of the season,
having lost by six without reply to Liverpool.

Certainly, Chelsea's fans understood. The win kept their title hopes
alive, but they still left early to avoid the traffic. There was no
hint of the jubilation that would traditionally greet such a result.
What did you expect? It was only Derby.

Lampard looked happy, though, and well he should. Even the frailty of
the opposition should not detract from his feat in scoring three goals
from midfield, plus a smartly taken penalty, which he also won.
Indeed, the strangest thing about Chelsea's win was that only one of
the six goals was scored by a striker, Salomon Kalou, and even then he
was playing in a wide attacking role. Nicolas Anelka failed to get on
the scoresheet; so, too, Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko, the
substitutes.

The rout began in earnest after 26 minutes when Dean Leacock, an early
replacement for the injured Alan Stubbs, whose experience was sorely
missed, tripped Lampard in the area. The England midfield player
stepped up and struck his shot to Roy Carroll's left. Derby heads went
down and did not lift, much to Jewell's fury.

efore half-time, Chelsea got a second goal and the cushion that
enabled them to play with such ease after the interval. Lampard was
the architect, slipping a pass through to Anelka, who was thwarted by
a clearance from Carroll. The ball travelled only as far as Kalou, who
hit it, first time, from 25 yards into an unguarded net.

"The fourth official has indicated one minute of added time," a
stadium announcer said as the half-time whistle loomed. To be fair, he
could have indicated decent Thai restaurants in the Fulham area or
recommended a good book; the contest all had paid to see was long
over.

The second half belonged to Lampard. In the 57th minute, he converted
a tap-in from a cross by Joe Cole as Derby ball-watched and nine
minutes later he struck a shot from the edge of the area that Carroll
could not stop. His fourth, in the 72nd minute, was another
medium-range effort, perhaps the best of the night, cutting inside and
riding two challenges after a pass from Joe Cole. They will miss him
more than they know if his contract talks again break down. Between
Lampard's second and third, Joe Cole also scored, first to the loose
ball after Claude Makelele had set Anelka clear and Carroll had saved.

"Frank Lampard is an important player for the team. What more can I
say, he always scores," Grant, the Chelsea first-team coach, said. "I
am sure he will be here next season. If Frank says he wants to stay at
Chelsea and Chelsea say they want Frank to stay, what is the problem?"

What indeed? David Jones, a substitute, did at least put Derby on the
scoresheet, but the event was treated more with amusement even by the
home supporters, another of many worrying signs on a night that was
good for Chelsea but disquieting for the rest of us.

"They looked like championship heavyweights, we looked like ABA
lightweights," Jewell, the Derby manager, said. "Everything they
needed to do they did better than us. I was squirming again for 90
minutes. It comes to something when you are happy to settle for six.
I'll make allowances for ability, but I find it difficult to accept
that we cannot match their desire."

It gets no easier. Derby's next match is against Manchester United on
Saturday. "I'll see you there," a journalist told Jewell, cheerily. "I
might not turn up," the manager replied, no doubt wishing he had that
option.

Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini – P Ferreira, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole
– F Lampard, C Makelele, M Ballack (sub: D Drogba, 67min) – J Cole
(sub: A Shevchenko, 74), N Anelka, S Kalou. Substitutes not used:
Hilário, M Essien, Alex.

Derby County (4-5-1): R Carroll – M Edworthy, D Moore, A Stubbs (sub:
D Leacock, 15), J McEveley – M Sterjovski, H Ghaly (sub: R Earnshaw,
52), S Pearson, R Savage, E Lewis (sub: D Jones, 58) – K Miller.
Substitutes not used: L Price, E Villa. Booked: McEveley.

Referee: C Foy.
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Lampard hits four as Chelsea backlash punishes Derby


Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge
Thursday March 13, 2008
The Guardian


Chelsea found respite in a rout last night. The traumas endured in
their FA Cup humiliation at Barnsley were exorcised in part against a
hapless Derby County, with Frank Lampard, so conspicuous by his
absence at Oakwell, gorging himself on four goals. The irony was that,
unlike in South Yorkshire, Chelsea would still have won without him.
Derby may have been wretched, their manager, Paul Jewell, wincing
agonisingly throughout this latest embarrassment, but this was the
fillip Chelsea and Avram Grant so desperately needed. Victory was to
be expected, yet its manner was encouraging. Arsenal are only five
points away at the top. It is mathematically possible, if distinctly
unlikely given that Derby host Manchester United on Saturday, that
Chelsea could be top this time next week.

Grant may have enjoyed himself on the sidelines but this was Lampard's
night. The England midfielder was the last player to leave the turf at
the end, saluting all sides of the ground having swollen his season's
tally to 17 goals in all competitions.
He hit the post after three minutes, scored the first from the penalty
spot and the last smartly from the edge of the area, holding off James
McEveley before spinning and planting his shot inside Roy Carroll's
near post. Every touch left Derby smarting, with Lampard the 16th
player to score four times in a game in the Premier League.

In between there was a tap-in from the outstanding Joe Cole's cross
and a shot from distance which fizzed through Carroll's increasingly
beleaguered resistance. "He scored his 100th goal for Chelsea earlier
this season and I think he'll get 150 goals for this club," said
Grant, despite the reality that negotiations over a new contract with
the player have been suspended until the summer.

"I think he'll be here next season, but the situation hasn't changed.
Negotiations are not my area but I'm sure that Frank will stay at
Chelsea. He says he wants to stay, and Chelsea want him to stay also."

This was his third hat-trick at the club and his easiest, despite the
others coming against Macclesfield Town in the FA Cup and Leicester
City in the Carling Cup. This game was such a mismatch that Chelsea
did not need to summon a particularly rampant rhythm to unsettle their
visitors. Derby have long since given up on this campaign. Their goal
difference has plummeted to -49, with this the 23rd successive league
match, and 15th under Jewell, without a win.

The manager cuts a helpless figure these days. The thought of
confronting Manchester United at Pride Park on Saturday is already
sending a chill down his spine. "I might not turn up," he offered, his
season now an exercise in counting down the days to a return to the
relative relief of the Championship.

David Jones's consolation, tucked away neatly after Lampard had
completed his personal haul, was only their sixth goal away from home
all season.

"It's heavyweight boxing against an ABA lightweight, but at least
there are less games left," admitted Jewell. "We've just been
outclassed, outfought. Everything they can do they can do better than
us. I'd have settled to be six down with 20 minutes to go, such was
the difference between the sides.

"I sat for 90 minutes squirming in my seat. I knew it was going to be
tough this season but I didn't think that we'd be as easy to beat as
we are."

This was shambolic. Dean Leacock, on for the injured Alan Stubbs, had
tripped Lampard to concede the penalty which opened the floodgates.
Salomon Kalou's second, lobbed from midway inside the Derby half after
Carroll had half-cleared amid confusion with Darren Moore, was
suitably farcical to deflate the visitors yet further. Joe Cole's
deserved reward came courtesy of the goalkeeper's parry from Nicolas
Anelka's drive.

So it was Rams to the slaughter, and for them this season cannot end
soon enough.