Rookie boss Lampard targets promotion for Derby

Image result for frank lampard derby news

Frank Lampard is targeting promotion to the Premier League for Derby County in his first season as a manager.

Lampard’s first competitive game in charge sees the Rams kick off the new Championship season against Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Friday.

After a glittering playing career that included three Premier League titles and the 2011-12 Champions League with Chelsea, Lampard hopes to build on a promising pre-season campaign by ending Derby’s decade-long absence from the top flight.

“It’s a difficult question, but of course promotion is the target — every club in the Championship has the same target,” said the 40-year-old.

 

“But we will go step by step. We want to finish as high as we can, we want to get promoted, because this is a Premier League club.

“We must start with those intentions, the players know that. We all want it together here, the staff, the whole building, want to get this club into the Premier League.”

Lampard promised his team would be hard-working.

“I want them to be aggressive, I want them to play good football, fast football. I don’t mean beautiful tiki-taka football, but I want there to be an energy in the team, where they play and excite the fans. I want energy, hard work and aggression,” he said.

Image result for frank lampard derby news

Opposing Lampard in the Reading dugout will be his old Chelsea coach, and former Derby boss, Paul Clement.

“I’ve sent a couple of texts to Frank Lampard — first when he got the job and then when the fixtures came out,” Clement said.

“I’m looking forward to coming up against him, as I do with all the managers. This a bit more because I’ve worked with Frank before so it will be nice to see him.”

Taken in isolation, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s description of Frank Lampard as a player without an awe-inspiring skill could be interpreted as an insult. When Hasselbaink thinks back to the youngster who joined him at Chelsea in 2001, he recalls a footballer with a good shot, decent technique and some pace. “He tackled alright,” the Dutchman says. “I think if you look at his abilities, there was nothing really outstanding.”

Related image

Hasselbaink, however, is in the middle of paying Lampard a glowing compliment. The point he wants to get across is how hard Derby County’s new manager worked to become one of the finest footballers of his generation. “Everything together made him an exceptional player,” the former Chelsea striker says. “He came from West Ham and we had some big names in the team but it didn’t faze him. He wanted to show he was worth the money. Mentally, he was one of the strongest players ever. Nothing really knocked him back. That will be a good asset for him as a manager. You have to have a thick skin.”

Tony Carr, West Ham’s former academy director, has similar memories of a kid with an iron will to succeed. “When challenges have come along, Frank has always risen to it and kicked on,” Carr says. “I’m sure he’ll take that trait into management. There’s lots he won’t be able to control when they’re out on the pitch but I’m sure his attitude will always help him.

Image result for frank lampard derby news
“As a young player, he was a breath of fresh air. A lot of youngsters can be apathetic about training hard, being patient and working on their weaknesses. Frank was always looking for ways to improve, whether it was fitness or technical work, and as he got more senior the managers he played for allowed him to become more versed in the tactical side of the game.”

Carr bumped into Lampard a few weeks before his appointment by Derby and the meeting left him with an inkling that his former student was ready to make the leap into management. Lampard spoke about completing his coaching badges and helping Jody Morris coach Chelsea’s under-18s. A few weeks later the 40-year-old was asking Morris to become his No 2 at Derby, who had just missed out on promotion to the Premier League after losing their play-off semi-final to Fulham.

Related image

Hasselbaink, who has managed at Burton Albion, Queens Park Rangers and Northampton Town, believes Morris will be an important ally for Lampard. “I played with Jody and he had a lot of football intelligence,” he says. “He wanted to play in a continental way. He is astute, a student of the game and very single-minded on how football should be played.

“He has learned his trade at Chelsea, so it should be a good fit. They have played together and trust each other. That’s what you need as a manager: people who have your back and who can transmit your ideas to the players every day.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *