Lampard hails Ranieri as architect of Chelsea success

Frank Lampard welcomed Claudio Ranieri back to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday by insisting the Italian should take take credit for laying the foundations of Chelsea’s recent success.

Ranieri returns to the London club for the first time since his 2004 dismissal as coach of a Juventus side bidding to claim a place in the Champions League Quarter-Finals at the expense of his former club.

The Italian’s exit ushered in the Jose Mourinho era that delivered back-to-back Premier League titles.

Lampard, though, believes Ranieri’s contribution in reshaping the Chelsea squad was crucial in transforming the fortunes of both the player himself, and the club as a whole.

“He should take credit,” Lampard said. “He brought a lot of important players to the team.

“He signed good players even before the Roman Abramovich era. He elevated John Terry to captain and he’s become one of the best in the world since.

“A lot of things have happened at this club, and Claudio Ranieri is part of that history. From taking Chelsea from a side who finished in the top six to one of the top four. He should take credit for what he did in his time here.”

And the player added: “I don’t think I would be sitting here if hadn’t been for him. He spent 11 million pounds on me, which seemed a lot of money at the time.

“He’s a great man as well as a great manager. I saw that as soon as I met him. He helped me develop from a West Ham player who maybe hadn’t seen the real world in footballing terms, and he opened my eyes to things.”

Ranieri steered Chelsea to the Champions League semi-finals just weeks before he was sacked by owner Roman Abramovich, but Lampard denied his former manager returns with revenge in mind.

“I don’t think Ranieri’s going to be thinking about proving points,” the midfielder added. “He’ll be thinking about getting through to the next round of the Champions League, like us. It adds a touch, of course.

“He’s well regarded here. Everyone respects the way he carried himself through his time here, particularly in the end.

“I don’t think he was harshly treated. I don’t think he’s the kind of man who would look back and worry about those kind of things, anyway.”

The penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United in last season’s final in Moscow capped an agonising end to the season for Lampard and his team-mates.

With United enjoying a commanding lead in this season’s Premier League title race, the competition represents a more realistic chance of success for the club that is still emerging from a dramatic week that saw the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari and installation of caretaker-manager Guus Hiddink.

And Lampard admits the painful memory of last May’s final disappointment has helped fuel Chelsea’s desire to progress.

“There’s an added incentive because of the manner in which we came so close last year,” he added. “You can’t but help having that in the back of your mind after what happened.

“You want to go back and actually win it, whether this year or not. But so much can happen. Little moments can go either way on the way to the final, and you need that bit of luck to succeed.

“We’re very determined, but after last year of course we want to win the Champions League.”

Hiddink enjoyed the perfect start last weekend when he steered his side to victory at Aston Villa just days after taking charge.

But the Dutchman – who will remain in the post until the end of the season whilst also retaining control of the Russia national team – admitted a lack of preparation meant he was going into the Juventus clash blind.

“I’ve not seen them (Juventus) play live, but you have to make your preparation,” Hiddink said.

“Every manager would like four, five or six weeks to implement a lot of things. But I have to do that in a reduced time, a pressured time. But we have to do it.”