Lampard’s final say on ‘Spygate’

FOOTBALL: Derby County manager Frank Lampard said he does not want to comment any further on Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa employing someone to watch the Rams’ training session ahead of Friday’s game, which the Whites won 2-0 at Elland Road.

“It is now a conversation between the FA (Football Association) and EFL (English Football League) and for them to decide if it is worthy of a punishment,” said Lampard, speaking ahead of his side’s FA Cup third-round replay at Southampton tomorrow.

“I don’t think offering my opinion now on what should happen is the right thing to do. I think I made my feelings quite clear after the Leeds game.

“It’s up to how much the FA and EFL want to stop what happened happening again, or whether they don’t.

“This will be the last time I speak about it.”

The former England midfielder had reacted furiously at the end of last week to what has been dubbed ‘Spygate’.

Shortly after the game, a 2011 interview with Andre VillasBoas resurfaced, during which he admitted that while working under Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho he would “travel to training grounds, often incognito” to secretly watch opposition in training to illicit further information.

Lampard was a player in that Chelsea side, but said yesterday: “There’s been talk about Chelsea used to do this years ago. I certainly wasn’t aware of it and I don’t believe it at all. Certainly not in the form that it happened this time.”

He added: “Pundits or explayers who say, ‘well, it always used to happen 20 years ago’, well it’s not 20 years ago, it’s the modern day.”