Neil Humphreys: Don’t go anywhere, Brendan Rodgers
Leicester boss, who has made the Foxes a formidable outfit, would be mad to consider Chelsea move
The rumour mill is an idiotic beast at the best of times, but the latest speculation is less believable than an UFO sighting.
Apparently, Brendan Rodgers is a contender for the Chelsea job because he's worked for Roman Abramovich before. There's more chance of Macaulay Culkin taking over the White House because he worked with Donald Trump in Home Alone 2.
Rodgers has never been shy about his aspirations to manage an elite club again, but he never said anything about a dysfunctional club, run by an absentee owner with a penchant for swinging axes like a demented woodsman.
Whatever happens to Chelsea incumbent Frank Lampard in the coming weeks - or days, if Abramovich reverts to type - there is no reason for Rodgers to leave Leicester City.
To paraphrase the old George Best joke, apart from being around the top of the table with a terrific squad and coaching set-up, along with supportive and generous owners, where did it all go wrong, Rodgers?
If anything, the Northern Irishman has become a victim of his early success. When he swopped Celtic for Leicester in February 2019, he was arguably taking a step down.
Today, the prospect of swopping the Foxes for the blundering Blues also feels like a step in the wrong direction.
Everything that feels right about Leicester feels strangely wrong about Chelsea, beginning with a sense of calming stability around the King Power Stadium.
In an astute observation, midfielder James Maddison pointed out how content the Foxes were to be operating in the shadows of the erratic giants of Manchester and Liverpool, very much out of sight and out of mind (until now).
CONSISTENCY
But there's nothing unremarkable about Leicester's consistency. For the 10th time this season, they scored first and went on to win the match, a testament to Rodgers' clear-headed focus.
Against Chelsea, he picked the same starting XI that defeated Southampton, echoing the heroics of Leicester's 2016 title-winners, who were rarely rotated.
In stark contrast, Lampard scribbled down another messy list of names on the teamsheet, making four changes to the line-up that barely defeated Fulham.
His recent tweaks on the right side of defence - opting for Antonio Ruediger and Reece James instead of Cesar Azpilicueta and Kurt Zouma - was purplexing. Neither man excelled, struggling with the fundamentals, such as marking and cutting out crosses.
Schoolboy errors are becoming a way of life at Chelsea. Despite the constant tinkering, Lampard still hasn't fixed the Blues' defensive failings (they've shipped more goals than any other club in the top half, apart from Manchester United).
This is not a coincidence. A glum image captured the crucial difference between Rodgers and Lampard. For most of Leicester's comfortable win against Chelsea, Timo Werner sat on the bench: cold, bored and largely unwanted.
Abramovich is not renowned for his tolerance when it comes to managers spending his money. But Lampard has lavished more than £200 million (S$361.9m) on the likes of Werner, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy and Ben Chilwell, and Chelsea are stalling in eighth position.
Chilwell proved to be an unfortunate metaphor against his former club, providing a timely comparison between old and new. His replacement at Leicester, James Justin, a quick, versatile fullback, epitomises Rodgers' outstanding scouting and recruitment process.
Working closely with sporting director Lee Congerton, Rodgers signed Justin, Youri Tielemans, Timothy Castagne and the unheralded Wesley Fofana.
The French centre-back arrived in October and the 20-year-old gem is quickly forming a dependable relationship with Jonny Evans.
With the title-winning core of Kasper Schmeichel, Marc Albrighton and Jamie Vardy still around, Rodgers has leaned on their experience, tightened up at the back, turned Harvey Barnes and Maddison into genuine England prospects and transformed the Foxes into everything that the Blues are not.
Lampard, on the other hand, has resorted to mumbling something about his players' inability to handle the pressure. Jose Mourinho did something similar at Chelsea. He got sacked. Twice.
That's where every managerial appointment ends at Chelsea. There are no happy endings, only degrees of disappointment.
Rodgers won't get his head turned. He no longer needs to think about joining an elite club. He's built one of his own.
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