FRANK LAMPARD is thriving as a manager right now, but it took some growing pains at his beloved Chelsea to get him started.
The Blues legend is the club’s all-time record goalscorer with 211 – from midfield no less – and his second job in management came at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard was 42 at the time and even though he was Chelsea royalty, many were surprised to see him land such a big job.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, the high-flying Coventry boss explained how he managed to secure the role.
Lampard said: “The stars aligned with Chelsea. People had opinions, of course, but the opportunity was there, they had the transfer ban and everything.
“I wouldn’t have got the job without that, I knew that, but I went there, worked with the younger players, and we made it into the Champions League and got to an FA Cup final as well.
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“People sometimes say to me, ‘Oh, you should have gone to manage the youth team or managed down at the bottom.’ But I’m like, ‘Why?’ I had a really long playing career where I learned a lot.”
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Lampard’s first job in management ended in playoff heartache as a Derby County team with names like Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount in it went close to promotion to the Premier League.
“Of course you have to retrain as a manager and the job has much more responsibility in loads of ways, but I’d played for a long time and I wanted to take that opportunity with Derby.”
“We made it to the play-off final and were so close to getting to the Premier League. I learned a lot of things during that first year in terms of management – managing staff, managing what the job entails.
“That was a great experience and unfortunate in the end. Then the Chelsea job came along.”
Lampard, 47, returned for a second spell as Chelsea manager in 2023 – this time as a caretaker – after Graham Potter was relieved of his duties.
Although the 106-cap England star vastly overachieved during his first spell at the club, he won just once in 11 games the second time around as the Blues effectively just played the season out.
Now he is at the helm of Coventry City, who sit six points clear at the top of the Championship table and barring a big collapse, look destined to return to the top flight.
Lampard has a win percentage of over 52% for the Sky Blues and instantly dragged them up the table after taking over last season to finish fifth.
Although they lost in the playoffs to eventual winners Sunderland, Coventry returned stronger this term and are now the second-tier pace setters.
