Old Firm derbies in downtown Nairobi, cops assaulting my players in CL clash .. all part of the job
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“It’s hard to name them because you leave people out, but of course, Jose Mourinho was a huge influence on me.
“At 25, he changed my mindset, f il led me with confidence and gave me a position in the team as well.
“I grew in stature with him. Carlo Ancelotti was incredible in terms of manmanagement, Guus Hiddink came in, wise and great, and Harry Redknapp helped me in the beginning.
“It’s part of putting it all together, I’ll try to be myself and not anyone else.”
Lampard is tasked with getting Derby into the Premiership and will need to reduce the average age of a squad which at 29 is the oldest in the Championship.
But he said: “I don’t think we need a big change.
“I will speak with the players and be very open, I want to see how they see it.
“I have my own ideas and I won’t beat around the bush– but it won’t be with a big stick. We have a strong, experienced backbone here and I will tap into that.”
Lampard knows the old adage that great players don’t make great managers.
He said: “I will be judged not on how well I speak as the manager but on how well the team performs.
“I’m fortunate to have had vast experience of 20-odd years of playing and I’ll try to use all of that.
“But it doesn’t give me anything when the f irst game starts.
“That’s down to me and the team I build.” early. We played a really tough team, FC Tunis. It was a hostile environment . Players got attacked by the Tunisian police with batons.
“The police were supposed to protect us because the fans were throwing bottles and beer cans at us.
“We dominated both games, drew 0- 0 at home then lost 1- 0 away in that environment.
“We lost 8-2 to that same team three years ago so it shows how far we have come.
“Then in the Confederations Cup, basically the Europa League, we have drawn our two group games.
“Going to Rwanda was dif f icult . There were 45,000 diehard Rayon fans.
“Footba l l in Af r ica is a lot bigger than people back home could imagine.”
Kerr’s first job as a football manager came in Asia as gaffer of Hai Phong in Vietnam.
His team became domestic cup champions within a year of his tenure but it all went sour after meddling from the owner.
Kerr said: “I’ve learnt a lot of different cultures and different languages. I was assistant at a team in Vietnam and they offered me my first job as a head coach.
“They thought they had invented the wheel. You can’t tell Vietnamese people anything.
“We weren’t a major force in the division but we won the Vietnamese Cup.
“It was against everybody’s expectations – because they chose our stadium to host the final!
“I think I’m the first British coach to win a trophy in that r e g i on . Steve McMahon, Peter Reid and Bryan R o b s on haven’t.
“So it wa s a big achievement i n my first managerial job.
“But I got p****d off with the way the club was being run.
“The owners wanted to sign players who were old and hadn’t played in three years.
“I could have made a lot of money by agreeing to sign the players I was told to sign. But I just refused, it wasn’t right. I then went to Tanzania for six months and the same things happened.
“I won’t listen to financially motivated people who don’t have a clue about football.”
Kerr holds disdain for the ‘ jobs for the boys’ attitude that he reckons is bad for the quality of coaches in Scotland.
As this summer’s managerial merry-goround starts up a ga in ba ck home, the Engl i shman is glad he never jumped on. Ker r g rew tired of applying for jobs at Scottish clubs and not getting a look-in but has no regrets. He said: “I’ve always said Scottish footbal l has that merry-go-round of coaches. “And once you’re on it, you’re never off. I tried forever, for any job that came up. “Then when the Kilmarnock job came up I didn’t even apply. “I’ve got nothing against coaches that get fired and get another job. But if a coach fails at one club what makes him a success at another club? “I’ve worked in four continents now and had some amazing success.”