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Former Blues midfielder Lampard enjoyed a good first season in charge at Stamford Bridge, taking the club to the FA Cup final and securing qualification for the Champions League.But after being given more than £200m to spend on new players in the summer, Chelsea find themselves ninth in the Premier League after 19 games, 11 points behind leaders Manchester United and five points off Liverpool in fourth.

Roman Abramovich said,

“This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him’.


“He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers.


“On behalf of everyone at the Club, the Board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as Head Coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.”


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Jose Mourinho admits it is going to take something extra special to crack the 86-game unbeaten home record set by his Chelsea team.


Liverpool's long run without a Premier League defeat at Anfield came to an end after 68 games, stretching over almost four years, before Burnley's 1-0 win, on Thursday.

Chelsea, however, did not lose a single league game at Stamford Bridge from February 2004 until October 2008, a sequence more than covering Mourinho's first spell at the West London club.


'The records are there to be broken, even the most incredible ones in so many sports,' said the Portuguese, now in charge of Tottenham. 'There are some records that you look to them and you feel that it is impossible for somebody to do it.

'What Liverpool did is amazing and very, very difficult to achieve. Our record from Chelsea is still the record and is very difficult for somebody to do better than that. But congratulations to Liverpool for the amazing run they had by not losing a Premier League match at home for so long.'

Avram Grant was in charge when Chelsea's record was ended by Liverpool.

Mourinho did not lose a Premier League game at home until deep into his second spell at the Bridge, a defeat by Sunderland in April 2014.



Much of his 'Special One' mystique was built around the invincibility of his teams on home soil but the Spurs boss fears bigger teams are increasingly vulnerable to shock results.

'What was almost a scandal, years ago, is not anymore,' said Mourinho as he prepared his team for Monday's FA Cup tie at Wycombe. 'Any team can go to any stadium and get a result.

'The teams considered with less potential are not like that as much anymore, these clubs and professionals deserve the credit.

'I don't open my mouth anymore and say 'wow, what a crazy result.' There are no more crazy results.

'Every team, even those with the objective to be champions or top four, I am not surprised if these big teams have a run of matches where confidence drops a bit because of bad results.

'The reality is that nothing is eternal. Not consecutive victories and not consecutive defeats. Always the next matches are open with open results.'
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Liverpool and Manchester United's Premier League match on Sunday prompted "hundreds" of complaints from supporters affected by colour blindness, with United's green change strip proving impossible to distinguish from Liverpool's traditional red shirts.


Despite using a white-and-black change kit for the majority of games this season when their red shirts clash with the home team, United wore an outfit described by kit supplier Adidas as "legend earth green" for the 0-0 draw at Anfield.


And with many television viewers unable to tell the two teams apart, the UK-based Colour Blind Awareness organisation saw its Twitter account, @colourblindorg, deluged by fans struggling to watch the game.


"It happens all the time; we have had a bad year this year," Kathryn Albany-Ward, the Colour Blind Awareness CEO, told ESPN. "We have had Southampton vs. Sheffield United and recently Liverpool vs. Man United. We have had loads.

"The NFL had to change their kit regulations to make sure that it didn't happen again.


"I think they do need to rise up to a large extent in the UK. People are aware of it, but they don't retain the information long enough to do something about it.


"If a major broadcaster was to take this on, and present what it is like to be colour-blind and watch a game to the right people. I think that would be great.


"The Premier League does act, and they do notify the clubs, as they know when these clashes will happen. I know because I was in touch with them today.


"They told United of this issue and United suggested a solution, but what they decided was not sufficient."


Sources have told ESPN that United were made aware of a kit issue by the Premier League 10 days before the Liverpool match but only asked to change socks from green to white.



To compound matters for United, who once changed an all-grey kit at half-time in a game at Southampton due to manager Sir Alex Ferguson complaining about his players being unable to see each other, midfielder Bruno Fernandes is currently an ambassador for colour blindness awareness in Portugal.


"As part of our EU project, the Portuguese FA have two ambassadors; one is Bruno Fernandes, but I don't think he is aware of this kit clash," Albany-Ward said. "The other is Jessica Silva, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais.


"They are aware of the issues it may cause, and they want to raise the profile of it, which they did in September on colour blindness awareness day."


Colour blindness (also known as colour vision deficiency) is a genetic condition which affects approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women in the world. While there is an extremely rare version where people can't see colour at all, most sufferers will still be able to see colours but will confuse different shades. The most common type is "red/green colour blindness" which affects the spectrum containing those colours.

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FIFA has rejected Atletico Madrid's appeal against Kieran Trippier's 10-week ban for breaching Football Association betting rules.
The ruling means the right-back is due to miss Atletico's next nine games in all competitions, including the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie against Chelsea, before being eligible to return to face rivals Real Madrid in La Liga on March 7.
Trippier was fined £70,000 and handed the ban, later given worldwide effect by FIFA, in December for breaching the FA's betting regulations.
Atletico appealed to FIFA arguing the FA's 10-week ban was not applicable in Spain - and the suspension was subsequently lifted, allowing Trippier to continue playing for Atletico until a FIFA appeal committee decided his fate.
However, on Monday, a statement on FIFA's official website read: "The FIFA Appeal Committee has dismissed the appeal lodged by the club Atletico Madrid in a case concerning the player Kieran Trippier.
"As a consequence, the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee passed on 23 December 2020 is confirmed, extending sanctions imposed on the player by the English FA to have worldwide effect."
Despite the outcome of the appeal, the FA failed in its own attempt last week to revise the effective dates of Trippier's ban - which ends on February 28 - meaning the 30-year-old could still continue playing if Atletico appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Trippier, who was found guilty of four of the seven charges against him, missed two La Liga games due to the ban but returned and provided an assist in last Tuesday's 2-0 win over Sevilla.
Although he is due to miss the first leg of the Chelsea tie, Trippier could play in the return match at Stamford Bridge on March 17 and, if selected, for England when they take on San Marino, Albania and Poland in the last two weeks of March.
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 Phil Neville has stepped down as head coach of England with immediate effect, the Football Association announced on Monday, with his move to MLS side Inter Miami edging closer.


Neville has been in the role since January 2018 but announced in April 2020 that he would not continue the job past summer 2021 following the postponement of the European Championships until 2022.


He had been due to lead Team Great Britain in the Olympics this summer but sources have told ESPN that Neville has held talks with Inter Miami about taking over as head coach after the departure of Diego Alonso. Sources added that Neville flew out to Miami on Monday for further talks over the vacant manager's job.




Miami finished 10th in their debut season in the MLS Eastern Conference in 2020, but sources have said that David Beckham and his fellow investors are determined to see an improvement in performance in 2021, with Neville the leading contender to replace the outgoing Alonso.


"It has been an honour to manage England and I have enjoyed three of the best years of my career with the FA and the Lionesses," Neville said in a statement.


"The players who wear the England shirt are some of the most talented and dedicated athletes I have ever had the privilege to work with. They have challenged me and improved me as a coach, and I am very grateful to them for the fantastic memories we have shared.


"I'd like to thank the FA for the tremendous backing they have given me, in particular Sue Campbell and my talented support staff whose energy, commitment and enthusiasm has been crucial to helping us make the progress we have. I wish England Women every success in the future and look forward to following their journey in the years to come."


The timing of the departure is tricky for the FA as assistant coach Rehanne Skinner departed the national side in November to become Tottenham manager and new coach Sarina Wiegman isn't due to take up the role until after the Olympics in August.


Sources have told ESPN that a new interim coach will be announced by the FA in the next few days.


Normally, the person who manages England also takes charge of Team Great Britain during the Olympics.


"I want to pay tribute to Phil for his significant contribution during his three years with the FA. In particular, the commitment, dedication and respect he has shown the position has been clear to see, and I will personally miss our many conversations about ways we can improve and progress," FA director of women's football Baroness Sue Campbell added in a statement.


"After steadying the ship at a challenging period, he helped us to win the She Believes Cup for the first time, reach the World Cup semifinals and qualify for the Olympics. Given his status as a former Manchester United and England player, he did much to raise the profile of our team. He has used his platform to champion the women's game, worked tirelessly to support our effort to promote more female coaches and used his expertise to develop many of our younger players.


"Given the positive ongoing dialogue we have been having with Phil, we will be in a position to provide an update soon on an interim appointment, as well as provide a further update on the coaching situation regarding Team GB [Great Britain]."

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Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi claimed a record sixth Ballon d’Or in Paris last night ahead of Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentine moved one clear of Ronaldo after the pair had been locked on five awards each as he reclaimed title he last won in 2015, with the Portuguese claiming the two subsequent gongs and Luka Modric surprisingly picking up the accolade last year to end the 10-year dominance of the two footballing icons.
This year’s victor finished astonishingly fifth in last term’s rankings and has come back with a vengeance this time around, producing a typically outstanding year in front of goal for Barca, hitting 40 strikes this calendar year and registering a further 17 assists to boot.
Lionel Messi
The forward did so in just 3516 minutes on the field, putting his club tally at slightly better than a goal or assist every 61.7 minutes.
He also claimed a 10th La Liga trophy and a Supercopa de Espana but was denied in the final of the Copa del Rey and was on the wrong end of a 4-0 battering at Anfield that saw Liverpool eventually go on to claim the Champions League title.
Meanwhile, Dutch defender, Matthijs de Ligt beat Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze to win the Kopa Trophy at the 2019 Ballon d’Or going on in Paris, France.