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Harry Redknapp questions Thomas Tuchel’s credentials to be Chelsea manager

Thomas Tuchel will be the next Chelsea manager (PA)
Thomas Tuchel will be the next Chelsea manager (PA)

Harry Redknapp has questioned the credentials of the incoming Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, following the sacking of Redknapp’s nephew Frank Lampard.

Lampard was dismissed following a slump in form of five defeats in eight top-flight games which saw Chelsea slip to ninth in the Premier League.

Lampard steered the Blues to a top-four finish last season, and Chelsea won their subsequent Champions League group to reach the knockout stages as well as advancing to the FA Cup fifth round, but it was not enough to save the club legend from the club’s familiar axe.

Redknapp was Lampard’s manager as a youngster at West Ham and helped the midfielder develop before his move across the capital to Stamford Bridge.

Lampard’s uncle also helped him secure his first management job, at Derby County, by calling owner Mel Morris and arranging an interview.

Tuchel won the German Cup as Borussia Dortmund manager before a spell at Paris Saint-Germain where he won two Ligue 1 titles and one French Cup, and reached last season’s Champions League final which they lost to Bayern Munich.

Tuchel, who endured plenty of acrimony with players and hierarchy during his two-and-a-half year stay in Paris, was sacked last month and replaced by Mauricio Pochettino.

“I heard Gary Neville saying earlier they’ve now got another world-class manager coming into the league,” Redknapp told Sky Sports ahead of Tuchel’s appointment.

“Who says he’s a great manager? Winning the title with PSG in France doesn’t really make you a great a manager. What does that prove? You’re quite entitled to win that division when you’re managing PSG.”

Tuchel’s first match in charge will be against Wolves on Wednesday evening.

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