FRANK LAMPARD’S hunger for knowledge saw him arrange regular dinner-dates with some of the best brains in football.
And gave him plenty of food for thought ahead of his return to management.
Lamps takes charge of Coventry City for the first time today when they host Cardiff City at the CBS Arena.
And he revealed how he used his 18 month sabbatical from football to gorge himself on a feast of football expertise.
He said: “I’m probably fortunate, after a long career as a player and my roots, I can tap into a lot of expertise and other people’s experiences.
“During my time out I stayed very close to other managers that are working in the game.
“I’ve had dinners with Thomas Frank and Roy Hodgson, people I have a lot of respect for as managers and also Gareth Southgate before the Euros.
“I was very lucky, I went up to work in a bit of a media capacity with Manchester City and Pep [Guardiola] invited me in and we had an hour-long chat.
“I went to see Thomas Frank and the work he is doing at Brentford.
“It’s always enlightening when someone sees the game differently from you, so I’ve done a lot of that sort of stuff.
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“But, if I’m honest, the main thing I’ve done is watch a lot of games.
“I’ve also gone over a lot of things I’ve done in my training and planning for what may come next.
“I’ve watched a lot of games where teams have tried to do something different and I tap into it.
“I watch back games from the weekend, predominantly Premier League games and Championship games.
“I’ve been watching matches from a wide angle and it kind of takes some of the excitement out of it with the noise off.
“But for me tactically, it’s good to do.”
Coventry fans looking for clues about how Lampard will set up the Sky Blues will be interested to discover the teams and coaches who have impressed their new boss most during his watching brief.
And Lamps gave a hint that he might Cherries-pick some of the best bits from Bournemouth.
He said: “I actually played with Andoni Iraola in New York and watched a lot of what Bournemouth are doing.
Here's a look at Lampard's record as a manager...
Derby County May 2018 – July 2019
P57 W24 D17 L16 Win percentage 42.1%
Chelsea July 2019 – January 2021
P84 W44 D17 L23 Win percentage 52.4%
Everton January 2022 – January 2023
P44 W12 D17 L24 Win percentage 27.3%
Chelsea (caretaker) April 2023 – May 2023
P11 W1 D2 L8 Win percentage 9.1%
Overall: P288 W132 D72 L16 Win Percentage 45.83%
“Some of their off the ball work – and how aggressive they are off the ball, I loved that.
“I also watched a lot of Ipswich last year and was obviously interested in what was happening there.
“Credit to the manager and coaches for what they’ve done.
“I went into areas where something interests me – Aston Villa, for example.
“You can definitely look at what other people are doing but it’s important as a manager you have your own ideas.
“I want to play exciting football. What coach would sit here and say the opposite of that?
By Alex Johnson
It was always going to be tough to fill the boots of a club legend like Mark Robins, a manager who provided many Sky Blues’ with their best-ever memories supporting the club, but the arrival of Frank Lampard has gone down like a lead balloon among the Cov faithful.
In his Q&A appearance with fans after firing Robins, owner Doug King emphasised his intention to bring in a tactically minded head coach to get the best out of what is the most expensively assembled squad in Coventry City history.
To end up with Lampard, whose former assistant Jody Morris received a lot of the credit for his success at Derby County, feels like a kick in the teeth. This isn’t someone who has won league titles or been praised for his brilliant style of football in the slightest.
Coventry fans will get behind Lampard and give him a chance. But to suggest he is an upgrade on Mark Robins after one playoff finish and a 9.1% win percentage in his last job is laughable.
“I’ve got belief in the squad. I want us to be exciting to watch in an attacking sense.
“I also want us to be very difficult to play against without the ball and win the ball back as high as we can.
“Hopefully the proof will be in the pudding.”
Lampard is desperate to get off to a winning start against fellow strugglers Cardiff City today.
But he warned: “This is the Championship so you have to have complete respect for your opponent.
“Cardiff will be wounded after losing at home to QPR in midweek and we know they’ll be fighting.
“We also know they have a manager (Omer Riza) who’s very keen to put his imprint on the team.
“I’ve been able to watch them a bit and they do some interesting things in terms of how they play.
“So our only focus right now is on Cardiff and trying to give our lads confidence to produce consistency in our work.”
