LAMPARD DEFENDS HIS OLD BOSS MOURINHO

FRANK LAMPARD believes Jose Mourinho still has the qualities that made him the Special One at Chelsea but admits every manager is sackable. Amid criticism of Mourinho’s manmanagement and conservative tactics, Derby boss Lampard takes his side to Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup tonight. And Lampard defended his former boss, saying he is still in the elite after taking Manchester United to second in the Premier League last season and winning two trophies in 2017. ‘Tottenham were a fair way behind and Mauricio Pochettino’s a great manager,’ said Lampard, when asked if Mourinho remains special. ‘Liverpool were too and Jurgen Klopp’s a great manager. Manchester United came second. This is not ancient history, this is fresh history, of the Europa League and the League Cup. He has it. ‘In management we know we’re all sackable at any moment. I am, he is, every manager is. But when he’s had the success he’s had, people are going to want Jose Mourinho as their manager. So then it becomes his decision. I imagine he’ll want to go on.’ Paul Pogba suggested United needed to take off the handbreak following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Wolves and Lampard said that as a player he would have kept his counsel after a poor result. ‘Everyone is different — some wear their heart on their sleeve, some might have reasons for saying things the way they do. ‘After a negative result, I was always particularly careful what I said.’ Mourinho called Lampard this week to offer congratulations on the birth of his daughter, named Patricia after his late mother. Lampard said such touches from his former boss go a long way. ‘He would always ask about your family,’ he said. ‘He was fantastic for me when I lost my mother. He was at Inter Milan at the time and he was ringing me regularly. It’s things like that you don’t forget.’ Lampard recalled the moment Mourinho made his Chelsea introduction. ‘You talk about auras and personalities walking into a room, he certainly had that. His confidence struck me. I thought we were going to be winners,’ he said. ‘We certainly weren’t negative at Chelsea. We had Damien Duff, Arjen Robben, Joe Cole, though we got painted as (negative) because we could also grind out a win when we weren’t at our best.’ Derby are playing an attacking brand of football and go into the game on a high after beating Brentford 3-1 to move two points behind the Championship leaders. ‘It’s a great test for me,’ said Lampard. ‘The most important thing is mentality — we have to respect them but we can’t wait for them to do something special.’ Mourinho expects a tough match, saying: ‘I don’t consider them favourites because it’s really hard to do that in the Championship — such a difficult competition. But when Frank goes there he goes with the intention of being promoted. They are playing well.’