Lampard: I worked for right to coach Chelsea
Frank Lampard has defended his path to becoming Chelsea head coach after Raheem Sterling questioned why black coaches had not been offered the same opportunities that Lampard and Steven Gerrard had received.
Lampard, the Chelsea head coach, stressed his respect and support for Sterling and the fight against racism, but pointed out that he worked hard getting his coaching badges and learning his trade at Derby County before being appointed by the club.
Manchester City’s trip to face Chelsea tonight brings Sterling back to Stamford Bridge, where he was racially abused last season. Sterling has since become a vocal and respected voice on the fight against racism, in which Premier League players and managers have supported the Black Lives Matter campaign.
Appearing on Newsnight earlier this month, Sterling used Lampard and Rangers manager Gerrard as examples of how he felt white former players received better chances in coaching than their black counterparts.
Asked about Sterling’s opinion, Lampard said: “What Raheem Sterling has spoken about in the last year or two, what he has been brave enough to speak about, issues which should have been broached a while before, he deserves huge credit for that.
“You can say the same about a whole spectrum of Premier League players in of Marcus Rashford recently, Jordan Henderson, Troy Deeney and Mark Noble. They are making a great impression.
“In the actual case of managers, I think Raheem got it slightly wrong from my point of view. It felt like a very casual comparison because if you compare opportunities and pathways of individual managers you can compare myself, Steven, Sol Campbell, who did an incredible job at Macclesfield and is doing a job at Southend that any of us would find very difficult to do.
“Compare Ashley Cole, who finished his career with me at Derby County last year and is working his way here [at Chelsea’s academy], doing a great job and I think he is going to be successful whatever he wants to do.
“Those opportunities have to be equal for everybody, I think we all agree on that, but within that, there are the details of how hard you have worked. I certainly worked from the start of my career to try to get this opportunity and there are a million things that knock you, set you back, you fight against.
“With Raheem, I think the individual comparison, when you don’t have the detail of each person’s pathway, wasn’t quite right.
“But, again, I will level that out because I want to say Raheem Sterling as a person and player, and what he has stood up for in the last two years, has been fantastic.”