'Walter was an incredibly successful manager and an even better bloke, and I found it a really interesting way of looking at it' Frank Lampard reveals managerial wisdom from Rangers legend Walter Smith

"Frank Lampard has a keen sense of what people think but rarely seems affected by it either way. Lampard was an eyebrow-raising appointment as the new manager of Coventry City in the autumn of 2024. He knew it, and he knew why. He'd seen and heard it all before. Now 47, Lampard has matured into a circumspect, savvy manager who knows what he doesn't know and makes it his business to learn."

"I spoke to the great Walter Smith once, when I was at Chelsea," Lampard tells FourFourTwo when asked about building his experience despite still being a young man in managerial terms. "Walter said, Frank, take your youthfulness as a manager and enjoy it.' He said that, at times, when he got older as a manager, he got worse because he over-thought stuff."

"Walter was an incredibly successful manager and an even better bloke, and I found it a really interesting and different way of looking at it that you can find the balance of keeping your youthful exuberance and a feeling for the job, because you have to have that passion for it, with a little bit of I've seen this situation before' experience."

Frank Lampard exhibits resilience to public opinion while acknowledging its existence. His appointment as Coventry City manager in autumn 2024 surprised observers. He draws on playing experience and managerial roles since Derby County in 2018 to develop his approach. Lampard values balancing youthful enthusiasm with accrued experience, citing advice to avoid overthinking later in a career. He actively seeks lessons from respected figures and treats gaps in knowledge as prompts to learn. The combination of circumspection, savvy and deliberate learning underpins his evolving managerial identity. His age and experience position him to blend passion with pragmatism.

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