Frank plans to take Derby to top The good, the bad... and even the ugly

LAMPS: I’LL LEARN FROM ALL MY EX-GAFFERS

FRANK LAMPARD will take a pinch of Jose Mourinho, a dash of Carlo Ancelotti and a sprinkling of the other big-name bosses he has worked with into the Derby dressing room.

But the 39-year-old insists he is determined to be his own man as he makes his first foray into football management at Pride Park.

Lampard worked with some huge names in a glittering playing career, including Mourinho, Ancelotti, Guus Hiddink, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Rafa Benitez, Sven Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello and Claudio Ranieri.

He said: “My aim is to take the good from them – actually, the good THREE-TIME Ballon d’or winner Cruyff was at the heart of Holland’s Total Football. As a boss, he won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup with Ajax, and again with Barcelona, also clinching four La Ligas and the European Cup. and the bad – because you see the things you like and the things you don’t like.

“It’s hard to name them because you leave people out but, of course, Jose Mourinho (above, with Lampard) was a big influence.

“At 25 years of age, he changed my mindset, gave me confidence and the position in the team as well. I grew in stature with him.

“Carlo Ancelotti was incredible in terms of man-management, Guus Hiddink came in, wise and great, and Harry Redknapp helped me in the beginning.

“It’s part of putting it all together and trying to find what I am. I’ll try to be myself and not anyone else.”

Lampard knows he needs to reduce the age of Derby’s squad but insists it will be a case of evolution AS a player, Zizou won Serie A twice and the Super Cup with Juventus, La Liga, the Champions League and Super Cup with Real Madrid, and the World Cup and European Championship with France. As Real boss, he won La Liga and three Champions Leagues. WON Serie A at Roma and European Cup at AC Milan twice as player. As Milan boss, Serie A and two Champions Leagues, led Chelsea to Premier Leaguefa Cup double, PSG to Ligue 1 and Real Madrid to Champions League. rather than revolution. He added: “I don’t think it needs a big change.

“I have my own ideas and I won’t beat around the bush in starting with those.

“But it won’t be with a big stick. It will be, ‘These are ideas and this is the way I trained and the way I want players to train and play’.

Backbone

“But it won’t be revolution, it won’t be, ‘Here I am, these are my ideas and they are better than anyone else’.

“I will speak with the players, be very open, I want to see how they see it.

“They can have ownership of it. We have a strong, experienced backbone and I will tap into that. Obviously, I’ll be the one making CAPPED 20 times by Italy, won five Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia and Champions League with Juventus. As Juve boss he won three successive titles before managing Italy. Joined Chelsea and won the Premier League in his first season and FA Cup in his second. the decisions and setting the tone but I want the players to be with me. There’s a clean slate for them to a degree.

“The squad is very big so there do need to be changes.

“Things will happen and I’m here as a manager to make those decisions.

“Live or die by your own decisions – that’s the way it has to go.

“If there’s a decision that needs to be made you make it, but the aim will always be to improve the squad.”

Lampard knows the old adage that great players don’t always make great managers, but he is adamant there is no correlation.

He said: “You can be a great player and not so good a manager, a great player and great manager, not so great a player but a great manager.

“The proof will be in the pudding and I will be judged, rightly, not on how well I speak but how the team does out there.

“I’m fortunate to have had vast experience of 20-odd years of playing and I will try to use all of that.

“But it doesn’t give me anything when the first game starts.

“That’s down to myself and the team I create.” WON six La Liga titles, European Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup with Barcelona. As a manager: three La Ligas with Barca and Champions League twice, three Bundesligas with Bayern Munich and Premier League with Manchester City.