Alan Brazil: Steven Gerrard’s progress at Rangers is the clincher for Frank Lampard returning to Chelsea

Some things are meant to be.

Frank Lampard becoming Chelsea manager looks like being one of those things.

It doesn’t matter that he’s only one year into his dugout career, and it doesn’t matter that there are bigger-name candidates out there.

Frank is Chelsea through and through, and if they come calling, he simply has to answer.

It’s not as if there is no precedent for inexperienced managers being succesful at a big, big club.

Just look at Steven Gerrard.

The same questions being asked of Lampard were asked of Stevie G when he took charge of Rangers around this time last year.

He had no experience, they said. He had only coached kids before, they insisted.

The answer was delivered quietly and without fuss by his Rangers team.

Some people just have the right stuff when it comes to management.

They have the steely-eyed determination, the intelligence and the know-how to get the job done from day one.

That’s not to say these guys don’t learn things along the way.

But when you start with all the tools required to do the job, you’ve got a head start.

Steven Gerrard is one of those guys, and I think Frank Lampard is, too.

He took County to the brink of promotion to the Premiership in his first season, and returning to the Bridge is logical progression.

Derby County have opened talks aimed at trying to hang onto their gaffer.

But if Chelsea want Frank, they’ll get him.

It’s probably a wee bit earlier than Blues owner Roman Abramovich might have expected to call on him.

But given Chelsea’s transfer embargo – and the loss of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid – the timing probably suits both the club and Frank pretty well.

Bigger-name, more-established managers might be wary of taking over at Stamford Bridge this summer.

After all, they won’t be able to add to the squad. The two-window transfer ban imposed by FIFA over improprieties in Chelsea’s signing of foreign under-18 players is to blame.

Would a top-calibre gaffer risk his reputation on the current squad, when the expectation will always be Champions League?

More to the point, would a top boss risk his future earnings, given the chance of failure?

For Frank, things would be different.

His standing at the club protects him from the kind of criticism an outsider would be subjected to for a start.

So does his status as a rookie manager.

Throw in another Chelsea legend in Jodie Morris – who is Frank’s assistant at Derby County – and the fans would be 100% on board.

Then there’s the prospect of John Terry coming in, too.

I’m not saying it would definitely happen, especially now Aston Villa, where he is assistant manager, have been promoted.

But what a trio Frank, Jodie and John would make. The punters would love it – and I think the players would, too.

Even accounting for the loss of Hazard, Chelsea’s squad is still suberb.

With a young, Chelsea-minded management team in charge, I could see them pushing for the Champions League even without new signings.

Appointing such an inexperienced manager would be an unusual move down Stamford Bridge way.

But it was the same for Rangers last summer.

Gerrard has grown as a manager over the past 12 months, and the Gers have grown with him.

I don’t see why Frank Lampard and Chelsea couldn’t work the same way.