“You can't beat any experience …”
And boy, Frank Lampard now has something of his seven years as a manager.
What the former Everton and Chelsea manager in Coventry has been able to achieve since taking over in November in November was enormously impressive.
Not only after the departure of a club legend in Mark Robins, but also a team from the edge of the relegation zone to a play -off take place – gather 10 victories of their last 12 in the championship – deserves recognition and admiration for what Lampard has been able to do in a relatively short time.
While I sat down with Lampard – I had an easy first question: how did he do it?
“We were in a position to look over our shoulder at that time at relegation – so from my experience that went to Everton – I understood that it went at such a difficult moment in the middle of the season – trust and the surrounding area is the first.
“You want to bring the group some freshness and confidence, so we tried to do that.
“We gave too many goals and we thought that different elements of our game could be improved that were supported by what we had seen and the numbers, so we started working on it quickly.
“The players have been a pleasure in terms of their involvement and application.”
It is clear that Lampard had an impact on the pitch – the results themselves suggest that.
However – who is Frank Lampard the manager? We know him as a Premier League legend for his gaming career and number of trophies to his name, but as a manager – what are his core beliefs as leader of the dressing room?
Lampard said: “I've been doing this work for a while at different levels and challenges of the competition and I think you realize that there are non-negotiators.
“Work ethics, an application, you have to run for your teammate, you don't have to complain, don't moan and understand how happy we are in a certain way.
“Every day, every week, I get problems that need a solution – so I try to relax more with that because I think that hopefully the players rub and hopefully they feel at ease to come to me and staff to discuss or open – I am not a dictator, far from.”
The Frank Lampard trip
Lampard is determined in its core beliefs of what he wants his team to represent, but what is clear from his time at Coventry so far – is his own growth in the role as a manager.
When you consider that he was only 39 in his first role at Derby – for the jobs and situations that he has taken on his seven years since – he not only encounters an aura of a player who has achieved a lot, but more in himself who has earned in itself for the continuous experiences.
“In my first week in Derby I was fresh, open eyes for everything and there were many things I needed to learn quickly,” Lampard said. “So I certainly became an adult there and I saw that, and to be able to work in the championship in Derby was a real year of development for me.
“To go to Chelsea and to work in the Champions League and go into the Champions League, through the competition – those things are all great experiences, so you hopefully impose them.
“Everton in a relegation struggle and we stayed up, and even back to the interim of Chelsea, it was really a difficult time at the club and I saw many things with people who wonder the way it was … I am absolutely better for the experience of that, although it was six or seven weeks.”
So from the fresh Lampard in Derby to the boss who now occupies the hot chair in Coventry – the most interesting aspect of his personal growth that he explains is something that we may all be able to relate, and that is a balance between work and private life.
“I probably have a better life balance. As a young manager you really want to prove yourself and every result becomes so critical – even every training session to a certain extent.
“I think that is normal in that early period – the more experience you show that you understand the coaching, the training, they may not go so great, you may not get the result if you have done everything you feel good in the week – I probably have more balance with that.”
The seven -week return to Chelsea
As Lampard suggests, his return to Chelsea was seen as an observed risk for the temporary period in the 2022/23 season and although there were not many positive results – it is something that he reflects that his values as manager Stold.
Lampard explained: “I saw things that I know they can't be right on elite football and that is the truth.
“I didn't like to work in that short period, because it is difficult to capture an idea when you leave, but Chelsea will always be a huge club in my life.
“But when I understand the standards of Chelsea – during that period many players were in the transition from perhaps left and some problems and motivation were a problem – you can't really influence that in an interim period.
“If you see the results, I am experienced enough to know what is good and what is wrong and fundamental things in a training field at a pitch.
“I have not learned anything tactically, but it strengthened my beliefs of all my experiences if you know what a group really fights in the same direction – how strong that is and when it is not, it can really be a challenge.”
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