Frank Lampard was left out of the Chelsea team for their 3-1 defeat against Napoli, much to the midfielder’s frustration…

News quickly got out that Lampard had a falling out with the manager Andre Villas-Boas. When questioned about this, AV-B admitted that several players were “not with him”.

“I think from the outside you can probably see that it’s not been ideal but the important thing is not to focus on individual relationships too much,” Lampard said later that week. “It can only be negative and people do like to play on negatives. There have been certain issues. Certain players, we don’t like not to play.”

Lampard started the next game against Bolton and the fans made it clear whose side they were on by repeatedly singing his name. He repaid their loyalty with a goal in a 3-0 win followed by a badge kiss.

“I just want to play and the way the fans were with me was amazing,” he said after the game. “It’s lump-in-the-throat stuff when they sing your name like that. These fans here, I think they’ve been through and seen a lot back in the old days. So they’re always very keen to stay with their players and I can only thank them for that.”

Awwww.

Villas-Boas got the sack so Frankie is now free to kiss the badge whenever he likes.