It turns out that disastrous spell as Chelsea’s interim boss was not career-ending for Lampard.
Lampard finds himself in the pre-appointment gooch phase; he’s been busy promoting himself, several broadcasters affording him the platform to rear his head as he awaits a tangible offer of a return to management.
His agent is clearly doing a blinding job as the former Chelsea, Everton and Derby County boss is being linked with various clubs across England and Europe.
Some opportunities are more credible than others, but it’s evident that we are getting Lampard back in management and a comeback may only be around the corner.
So where could he go? Two Premier League clubs are among five potential next moves for the 46-year-old, who could soon butt heads with Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney in the dugout…
Coventry City
A certain former Man Utd interim boss could beat Lampard in the race to replace Mark Robins at Coventry, but the latter is at least a named candidate for the Championship outfit.
The recent sacking of Robins highlighted the ruthless nature of football management after arguably heading into this campaign as one of the Championship’s safest managers after guiding Coventry to last season’s FA Cup semi-final.
But there has been major investment at Coventry City in recent seasons as their budget has been boosted by the sales of 2024 top scorer Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer.
Without these two immense talents, 17th-placed Coventry have recruited well and should be contesting for promotion but are already nine points adrift of the play-off places.
Robins did an excellent job over nearly eight years, taking Coventry from League Two to the brink of a Premier League return. Despite their poor position, he leaves them in a great spot and Lampard would be fortunate if he’s chosen out of the – according to owner Doug King – “huge” number of applicants.
READ: Five PL moves for Ruud van Nistelrooy post-Man Utd include replacing Ange Postecoglou at Spurs
Burnley
Following Lampard’s spells at Chelsea and Everton, he likely requires a drop to the Championship to rebuild his reputation and – like Van Nistelrooy – he was reportedly on Burnley’s radar in the summer.
Vincent Kompany stubbornly refusing to change his tactics was to his gain but Burnley’s loss as he fell on his feet to join Bayern Munich after being made their 47th-choice to replace Thomas Tuchel.
After storming to promotion in 2022/23, Burnley presented an exciting opportunity for a manager wanting a Championship title on their CV and Scott Parker was eventually preferred to Lampard.
There is an argument to suggest Fulham and AFC Bournemouth got promoted despite Parker in past seasons and the 44-year-old arrived with very little fanfare while rueing his dire 12-game spell at Club Brugge.
Parker’s goal-shy Burnley have not managed to win over their unconvinced fanbase, even though they are fourth in the Championship. It’s promotion or bust for the under-fire manager and a continued slump in the festive period could see their board perform a U-turn and give Lampard another call.
AS Roma
The Friedkin Group’s recent running of Roma doesn’t bode well for Everton…
The Serie A giants have slumped from a consistent challenger for Champions League qualification to a shock early-season relegation candidate and are just four points clear of the bottom three.
But the task of reviving a sleeping giant remains a tempting one and Lampard has joined former Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag in being linked with a move to the Italian outfit following Ivan Juric’s recent sacking.
For now, Roma’s immediate priority is halting their decline and adored 73-year-old club legend Claudio Ranieri has been prised out of retirement with this task in mind.
Having presumably been asked to get supporters back on board in what will surely be a brief morale-boosting exercise, Ranieri will likely do that before returning to his deck chair in the summer. At this point, Lampard – if he holds off until then – could venture into Europe to broaden his managerial horizons.
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Wolves
Premier League clubs do not seem as willing to hand Lampard a managerial lifeline as those in the Championship, but there are still a couple of options in the top flight.
There was *actually* a stark improvement in Wolves’ results and performances after the October break as O’Neil took his side off the foot of the Premier League table to keep his job for a little while longer.
But O’Neil is the current third-favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked and is far from out of the woods; their pre-Christmas games against Everton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City are set to be season-defining.
While it’s easy to dispute Lampard’s credentials as a manager, one of his few positive achievements was saving Everton from relegation at the end of the 2021/22 campaign following the baffling Rafael Benitez failed experiment.
Lampard will not want the reputation of being a Sam Allardyce-esque firefighter, but this is perhaps only one of two ways he’ll secure an immediate return to the Premier League after his damaging second stint in the Stamford Bridge dugout.
READ: Ipswich and Wolves victories put Newcastle, Manchester City and Everton to shame
West Ham
O’Neil has been usurped in the ‘next manager sack’ betting by Lopetegui as West Ham fans have quickly grown tired of the Spaniard.
The Hammers hierarchy had the opportunity to make a progressive appointment of an attack-minded manager to take the club forward, so it underwhelmed supporters when they landed on David Moyes-lite.
Lopetegui previously did a great job at Wolves and is admired in Spain, but his approach to football is not enticing and West Ham’s talented crop of players have not taken to him.
West Ham were one of the winners of the summer transfer window, so they are capable of much more than 14th in the Premier League. If there is no drastic improvement in the lead-up to Christmas, Lopetegui will be out of a job and the club will be back to the drawing board.
Lampard and his family have a close affinity with West Ham, but in the eyes of most supporters, his big move to Chelsea broke that bond.
His return would receive a fair bit of backlash but he’d perhaps not be as unpopular as Lopetegui. It would also be pretty wholesome if the two parties let bygones be bygones after he admitted he’d “never forget” his time at Upton Park.
