Lampard was biding his time but Everton job is good fit

Frank has had his knocks but now he’s fresh and ready to go

LITTLE more than a year has passed since Frank lampard woke to an ominous text message from Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck summoning him to the boardroom at Stamford Bridge.

His time as head coach of the club where he scored a record 211 goals was at an end. there was no attempt to deny his ego was bruised and he has resisted the urge to plunge straight back in, but he always knew he would be back in the game.

lampard has devoted the bulk of the last 12 months to family life, with son Freddie born in March, along with the occasional shift as a tV pundit and a determination to continue his coaching studies while digesting the lessons of his career thus far.

last summer, there was interest in the vacancy at Crystal Palace and an interview before the appointment of Patrick Vieira. there were strong links to Celtic, although it was never a realistic option. lampard spoke vaguely of ‘flattering offers’ but was prepared to wait for the right one.

then there was an interview which did not go well, at Norwich in November. lampard was in Dubai and seemed unprepared, unsure of the players, when they flew out to discuss with him the idea of replacing Daniel Farke.

left distinctly unimpressed, the Norwich board switched their attention quickly to Dean Smith, recently fired by Aston Villa.

Again, lampard’s reputation took a hit. Big jobs at Newcastle and Aston Villa came and went without him really getting into the conversation. As time ticked by, the positive things he achieved at Derby and Chelsea faded a little further from memory.

At both clubs, he made a positive impact and connected supporters with the team. Derby fans will never forget his feud with leeds and a thrilling 4-2 win at elland Road in the play-offs.

the emotional return to Chelsea started well, too, with high-tempo, adventurous football the perfect antidote to a year under Maurizio Sarri, and a return to the Champions league despite a transfer ban, the sale of eden Hazard and the complications of a three-month hiatus caused by the pandemic.

lampard turned to academy graduates such as Mason Mount and Reece James, now established starters, and tammy Abraham and Fikayo tomori, who fetched combined fees of £60million when sold to italy. How would these gifted youngsters, now all internationals, have developed without him?

Chelsea had been top of the Premier league just 50 days before his dismissal and, clearly, he did not make a complete mess of things, even if there were mistakes. He lost the trust of some key senior players and failed to maintain good lines of communication with the board. By the time he left, they were ninth and floundering.

‘Your pride takes a hit,’ lampard told Sportsmail’s Jamie Redknapp in his first interview after leaving the Bridge. ‘For the first week, i kept my head down, staying at home, spending time with the family. But the minute i got out there were cabbies and fans in the street who gave me a real lift because of how they were with me.’

His status as a legend remains intact and yet Chelsea’s instant success in his absence did not reflect well. thomas tuchel arrived and, within four months, had won the Champions league with the same group of players and climbed back into the top four.

For some, this supported a theory that lampard was wet behind the ears, and that he would benefit from someone with more experience and tactical acumen on his coaching staff, particularly when it came to in-game decision making.

Although tuchel will probably sympathise with his predecessor after sampling his first full campaign in english football,

chasing trophies on all fronts. Equally, the derby crisis has cast a different complexion on lampard’s one season at Pride Park. The Rams are in administration, deducted 21 points and fighting to survive as they try to avoid relegation to league One.

Owner mel morris broke the rules to provide managers like lampard with a squad they couldn’t afford.

Still, derby did not go up. They came close, but as soon as they lost to Villa in the play-off final at Wembley, the cost-cutting began in earnest, with morris pleased to pocket compensation from Chelsea, who were low on credible options to replace Sarri because of their predicament with the transfer ban.

lampard, 43, will be a wiser boss for these experiences dealing with the egos of modern footballers in the dressing room and the extreme pressure of expectation from modern owners in the boardroom.

There is no preparation for this — not even if you happen to be one of the greatest players in the Premier league era, born into a footballing family. In a strange way, it might help to have a sacking on his record, freeing him from sniping about privilege from those who claimed he had been lucky to leap from the Championship to the Champions league without so much as a promotion to his name.

‘You’re not a manager until you’ve been sacked,’ as Roy hodgson told him soon after his Chelsea exit.

he is smart and dedicated enough to absorb the lessons and evolve, and is planning changes to his coaching team, with Jody morris not expected to join him as assistant. at Everton, there is plenty of scope for improvement but without an unreasonable expectation to win the Premier league.

lampard, already suitably unpopular across the city at liverpool, has a proven ability to make fans feel good about their team again with his profile, personality and passion for attacking football.

This has to be the immediate aim for Farhad moshiri and his shambolic regime at Goodison Park.

The time feels right for lampard to return and Everton feels like a good fit for him.