Frank Lampard reflects on his managerial career to date

If you had a word to describe your time so far at Coventry, what would you use? Enjoyable. Which is great with management because everyone has a challenging job in this game. Coming in mid-season obviously you understand the challenges that are coming. You try and work them out as quickly as you can. Try and progress, influence things positively. Thankfully we've been on a really good run which has changed the face of the season for us. It's been really pleasurable to work with the players, the staff, to really feel comfortable so quickly in the role. So yeah, enjoyable. I hope it stays that way. Absolutely. You talk about identifying the challenges. So when you step in the role in November, what did you see those challenges as and how did you approach to tackle them? I think you never know the full picture until you arrive in the job. So you can have some assumptions from the outside but getting in close, really studying the games, the data, the numbers can paint a picture for you. So obviously we were in a position of probably looking over our shoulder towards relegation at that point. So from my experience probably going to Everton I understood that going in mid-season in a difficult moment like that, confidence and environment is the first thing. You want to bring some freshness and confidence to the group. So we tried to do that. I found the group really good to work with as I touched on. And then it was trying to pinpoint with hopefully clarity to the players the things we felt we could improve. We were conceding too many goals and we felt different elements of our game could be improved, which were backed up probably by what we'd seen and the numbers and we got to work quickly on it. It's all about the players. They've been a pleasure in terms of their engagement and their application and here we are with work to do still but in a better position. You said you started off by looking behind you. You were a few points off relegation in that sense and now in a play-off position coming off this international break. Has it surprised you maybe how well the players have listened to your messaging and the coaching staff that have come in? There's a lot to it. I wouldn't say surprised because I think you should never be surprised. I think the reality was we were two points above relegation and a lot of people will talk about the squad and it's this and it's better than that. But it was a reality where we were at the time so I took that at face value and tried to have a fresh, clean slate for all players. Trying to be positive as you come in and I suppose if there is any tiny bit of surprise it's the idea that from that position we're missing some big players for us. We managed to get a togetherness, a way of playing, of adapting our style at times because of the injuries that we had. Building a collective spirit within the group which is always the first thing that any team that wants to be successful needs and worked hard towards it. And then the rest is the details and the moments of luck in games which I believe you always earn, hopefully. And those things I think to this point have come together well and it leaves us in the football club and the feeling and the fans in a much better position at this point. We've got work to do so I don't want to feel like I'm talking about the end of the story. It feels like you've also been able to rebuild that relationship with the fans as well. I mean we've seen a few of those fist bumps after the game. How special has that been for you to get that connection back with them but also see that develop over the last few months? Yeah, well I'm very happy with that because it means we're doing something right from our point of view. My and our part of the bargain for the fans is to show passion, show energy, show quality in our play. Then the fans always react to that now. They travel everywhere with us, amazing away from home. The CBS has been full for the last two games and you feel it. So I really appreciate that personally because I understand the feeling that they had for the last manager rightly so. So I just came in and get to work. I do my job hopefully pretty quietly. I come in here most days and try and do my job. If that reflects onto the pitch, great. The fist pump is something that they kind of call on and I'm in it now. You have to abide. Of course and I've got no problem with that because there'll be moments when I can't fist pump. We lose a game or whatever and I still have to stand up for the club. I just wonder, you've talked about a few previous jobs but also you've been doing this job for a while now in terms of management. I just wonder when you look back at the Frank Lampard who was in charge of Derby for example, what do you think you've grown in terms of the role that you've learned from that time to now? You can't beat experiences. So I've certainly grown through that because you adapt slightly to situations that you've encountered before many times. In my first week at Derby I was like a fresh open eye to everything. There's lots of things that you need to learn quickly. So I've certainly matured through that and seen that and to be able to work at Derby in the Championship was a real development year for me to then go to Chelsea and work in the Champions League and get into the Champions League through the league and FA Cup Finals. Those things are all great experiences so you kind of layer them up hopefully. Everton relegation battle, we stayed up. Even going back to Chelsea's interim, it was a really tough time at the club and I saw a lot of things and people questioned like was it the right thing to do. I'm absolutely better for the experience of that. Even though it was six, seven weeks, I saw things there that I know can't be right at elite football. And that's the truth. So again, you learn a little bit and you try and improve. Just in any work environment, you're meant to spend six weeks in that role. What kind of things can you learn? You talked about maybe things that aren't acceptable but what kind of things are you picking on in that sense that you have to apply, say, to the job here that, again, maybe non-negotiable that you can't see? The big difference between interim management and... I didn't love working in that short period because it's hard to lay down an idea when you're going to be leaving in six, seven weeks. Those things are very short term so that's one thing. But I think Chelsea will always be a massive club in my life. But I understand the standards of Chelsea and what it was and is and should be going forward and it will be, I'm pretty sure of that. But in that period of time, a lot of players were in transition of maybe leaving and some problems and motivation was a problem. In an interim, you can't really affect that but then you see the results of it. So I'm experienced enough to know what's right and what's wrong and basic things in a training ground and on the pitch. So I didn't learn anything tactical. I didn't learn really because it wasn't a position of that for the club at the time. But it did reinforce my beliefs of all my experiences of when you know a group is really fighting in the same direction and how strong that can be. And when it's not for a short period, that can be really challenging. And again, for me, there's never a regret to those things because you get that little bit better and stronger for that tiny experience against all my others. My playing career at Chelsea, my first time managing, so many good memories. The interim period, not so many good memories. But learning experience nevertheless. Learning experience. And I certainly don't want to sound like this is like a critique of any individual. I think it was a moment in time of a tough period. And that can happen at many football clubs. So it's not that Chelsea should be immune to that. That was that. But hopefully it helped me become slightly more well-rounded after that just from going through it. And just to look back from that wide eye, as you mentioned, maybe Frank Lampard who had that first week at Derby where everything was new. I mean, the Frank Lampard now. I mean, how are you feeling in terms of your own development as a manager at the Frank Lampard? I don't know. It's hard. I mean, you probably better off asking the staff and players or something. I don't know. Maybe because you do your job to the best of your abilities. And I know I've learned a lot. I probably have got a better life balance in terms of I think as a young manager you really want to prove and every result becomes so critical, even every training session to a degree. And I think that's normal in that early period. I think most coaches would have been through that. The more experience you get, you understand the coaching, the training, they might not go so great. You might not get a result when you've done everything you feel right in the week. If it doesn't reflect on you, some things will when you take them on board. But I've probably got more balance with that. So hopefully I try and be clear with my message to the players. I try and be with them on it. If we fail, we fail together. If we succeed, we're together. So hopefully they feel that on a level they can knock on my door and ask my opinion on pretty much anything and I'll give it to them and not be sort of too withdrawn from them. That's what I try and do.