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Has Lampard been as excellent as many people suggest?


Sexydadbod

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Frank jumped straight into the deep end, the most competitive league in the world.  That's quite ballsy and shows self confidence, but perhaps a bit too confident.  If he had studied this league he would not have started off with talk of passing to feet and possession football.  i like the guy, i think he does have ambition to learn on the job and humble enough to accept experienced advice if and when it's given.  He is our manager and for what it's worth has my full support.  You show the doubters Frank, that's the best answer.  

He will have many more gray hairs after just one season in our midst, though.

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3 minutes ago, Will Hughes Hair said:

Interestingly Mason was singled out for praise multiple times by Frank earlier in the season, so is it a surprise he responded?  I think herein lies a clue as to where I feel Frank needs to develop as a manager.  He has an eye for a player, sees the big picture, knows how he wants to play, is a great ambassador for the club and has developed a rapport with the fans but...

I still think he's got a little way to go in terms of motivation and man management.  Take our first matches of the season with Frank probably a bag of nerves, that translated into us coming out and looking as nervy as hell for the first quarter of those matches (Reading and Leeds for those who've forgotten).  I am reliably informed that the changing room on both occasions was fairly subdued.  Then think about Frank's demeanour before the Leeds game and tell me that hasn't translated into the dressing room and onto the pitch. 

The fact that slow starts have been a recurring theme suggest that a change in pre match (and possibly half time) approach is needed.   I'm not slating Frank here it's quite possible that some of the team are still a little in awe of Frank or that Frank is working through the process of transitioning from a player within a group to being the manager of a group.  Either way I'm not sure Frank has realised the full scale of the impact his actions have on the team.

If you think about it, Franks touchline demeanour also has a hint of this.  He's not a tubthumping, rabble rouser and he hasn't quite worked out how to influence the on pitch performance. Yet.

This is all compounded by the team being relatively young, and therefore being likely to lack the individual and collective resilience that you would get with a more experienced squad.  People talk about young players being inconsistent for a reason.

So in short it's a learning curve for Frank and this squad together and I'm sure they'll get there.  I hope that we (Mel and the fans) give them the time and space to develop. 

I think you’ve raised some really good points there, particularly about the squad being nervous before the Leeds game. I personally expected the whole team to be fired up and ready to go from the off on Friday and that just simply didn’t happen. I really do think Frank let the whole “spygate” thing get to the team to be honest, and it’s something he will learn from I’m sure. 

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8 minutes ago, WAGHORNY RAM99 said:

It makes me think what was the point in even buying Waghorn?, he has played a key part in big games yet Lampard seems to have little faith in him and has mostly played him out of position on the wing when he is clearly a striker.

He was a big part in our good run, we’ve missed his strength out wide, we’ve not given any wingers baring Wilson enough time to get a good run together it’s frustrating 

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I think he has possibly been surprised about the calibre and learning ability of players at this level. He has trained with players who only have to be told a couple of times before they get what’s being put across. Our players may be very willing to learn but at this level don’t always have the skills to actually play the way they, and Frank, would like.

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Rowett pursued a short term strategy generally signing ageing players for immediate impact in the hope of making a dash for promotion. Curtis Davies and Andre Wisdom; joe ledley and tom huddlestone; tom lawrence; cameron jerome and sam winnall on loan. None of those players have made a lasting contribution. Wisdom has struggled to retain his place. Huddlestone and lawrence have both been has been inconsistent. Unfortunately Davies suffered a bad injury, and at least Ledley cost nowt. But the real damage was the outgoings and the negative effect on morale. The departures of Ince, hughes, russell, and bryson on loan reduced the midfield creativity significantly, and turned us into a dull team that relied on the pace of weimann and co to snatch goals on the break.

frank has followed a strategy of attempting to repair the damage, and simultaneously go for promotion. Transfer activity has been short term loans plus some players for now and some players with longer term value. Bogle, bennett, lowe and bird have been promoted out of necessity with mixed success. The introduction of bogle, tomori and malone into the back four has changed us to a team that attempts to play out - which is what we wanted. The return of Bryson plus the short term additions of mount and wilson, have attempted to plug the holes created by rowett's destruction of the midfield. Evans, marriott and holmes have provided longer term value and something to build on. Jozefzoon, and waghorn have disappointed but are still better or no worse than the signings of lawrence and jerome. For one window and half a season i think thats a pretty good effort. But the sheer number of loans still shows how short we are of the necessary quality and quantity. Without money to invest, and without a few more potential gems to bring in, then we risk stalling the project. Ultimately i'm not sure that frank would be anymore inclined to hang around than GR if the project starts to nose dive. 

So the key is to sort the finances out. Shedding wage burners is essential and we may still have to lose huddlestone, bryson, nugent, thorne and other senior pros that we simply cannot afford. We need to unearth a few more gems like duane holmes and jack marriott on sensible, sustainable wages. Unfortunately we are likely to continue to have to take one step back for every one or two steps forward. Loans will plug the gaps and we are better able to attract those players with frank than without him.

forward progress from a deceptively low starting point is difficult and won't be smoothe. Results such as we suffered at Leeds only serve to highlight how far we have to go, and do not suggest that frank is failing. They are inevitable and therefore patience is required.

 

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55 minutes ago, SIWY said:

I think you’ve raised some really good points there, particularly about the squad being nervous before the Leeds game. I personally expected the whole team to be fired up and ready to go from the off on Friday and that just simply didn’t happen. I really do think Frank let the whole “spygate” thing get to the team to be honest, and it’s something he will learn from I’m sure. 

Totally agree.

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TobyWanKenobi

Considering it's his first season as a manager I think he's done fine. Wasn't expecting to be challenging for playoffs so better than fine to be honest.

The real test comes next year with fully building his squad after all the poo leaves in the summer and making the promotion challenge then.

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It is very difficult to get a team to play fantastic, free flowing football after one season, Pep couldn’t even do it with Man City in his first season, and considering our team has a lot more inexperience playing attacking football I think Lamps has done a pretty respectable job. 

I think the only gripe I have recently is the lack of character and leadership in the team. A lot of time it seems no one has got the motivation to really go for a goal, and it only seems to happen when we score, and sometimes that doesn’t even help (e.g stoke, Sheffield Utd). It’s probably inexperience, but a lot of players have this ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude, and this is where Lampard needs to improve. I don’t think Lampard tells the team to play this long passes, I think it’s down to a lack of confidence. He needs to motivate the team better imo. (Bar the Norwich game, which actually showed promising signs of improvement).  

 

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5 minutes ago, JarodyDCFC said:

 a lot of players have this ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude

 

i would agree with there are a few that can look a bit  too casual.

But growett signed three of them.

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He deserves at least 4 transfer windows before he is properly judged IMO, the squad he inherited was aging and not good enough, and he's made a few good acquisitions, started to incorporate youth, and got us playing in the right way. I wouldn't describe how he's done as excellent yet, but it's about as good as many could have done in his position, and I have faith it will only get better. No matter where we finish this season, I won't be Lampard out.  

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8 minutes ago, Andicis said:

He deserves at least 4 transfer windows before he is properly judged IMO, the squad he inherited was aging and not good enough, and he's made a few good acquisitions, started to incorporate youth, and got us playing in the right way. I wouldn't describe how he's done as excellent yet, but it's about as good as many could have done in his position, and I have faith it will only get better. No matter where we finish this season, I won't be Lampard out.  

Unfortunately it looks like this window could be a non-event.

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1 hour ago, RamNut said:

Rowett pursued a short term strategy generally signing ageing players for immediate impact in the hope of making a dash for promotion. Curtis Davies and Andre Wisdom; joe ledley and tom huddlestone; tom lawrence; cameron jerome and sam winnall on loan. None of those players have made a lasting contribution. Wisdom has struggled to retain his place. Huddlestone and lawrence have both been has been inconsistent. Unfortunately Davies suffered a bad injury, and at least Ledley cost nowt. But the real damage was the outgoings and the negative effect on morale. The departures of Ince, hughes, russell, and bryson on loan reduced the midfield creativity significantly, and turned us into a dull team that relied on the pace of weimann and co to snatch goals on the break.

frank has followed a strategy of attempting to repair the damage, and simultaneously go for promotion. Transfer activity has been short term loans plus some players for now and some players with longer term value. Bogle, bennett, lowe and bird have been promoted out of necessity with mixed success. The introduction of bogle, tomori and malone into the back four has changed us to a team that attempts to play out - which is what we wanted. The return of Bryson plus the short term additions of mount and wilson, have attempted to plug the holes created by rowett's destruction of the midfield. Evans, marriott and holmes have provided longer term value and something to build on. Jozefzoon, and waghorn have disappointed but are still better or no worse than the signings of lawrence and jerome. For one window and half a season i think thats a pretty good effort. But the sheer number of loans still shows how short we are of the necessary quality and quantity. Without money to invest, and without a few more potential gems to bring in, then we risk stalling the project. Ultimately i'm not sure that frank would be anymore inclined to hang around than GR if the project starts to nose dive. 

So the key is to sort the finances out. Shedding wage burners is essential and we may still have to lose huddlestone, bryson, nugent, thorne and other senior pros that we simply cannot afford. We need to unearth a few more gems like duane holmes and jack marriott on sensible, sustainable wages. Unfortunately we are likely to continue to have to take one step back for every one or two steps forward. Loans will plug the gaps and we are better able to attract those players with frank than without him.

forward progress from a deceptively low starting point is difficult and won't be smoothe. Results such as we suffered at Leeds only serve to highlight how far we have to go, and do not suggest that frank is failing. They are inevitable and therefore patience is required.

 

Absolutely bang on the money and well explained too. Rowetts short term strategy to put a promotion on his CV was always going to make this season very difficult for whomever was at the helm. It's the exact reason Rowett jumped ship along with a fat pay cheque from Stoke too. It's all well and good comparing us at this stage of the season to last season under Rowett but are we forgetting that Rowett had the back end of the previous season to set his stall out for the upcoming season. That's a luxury Frank hasn't had. If you flip it on it's head and compare them from the same starting point, by that I mean this season,  then Frank has definitely exceeded old Snakey, who had the luxury of a larger budget and one of the best squads in the division to choose from. In summary, I don't buy into the comparisons to last season as it's not a level playing field. Has Frank done an excellent job? Excellent is stretching it I'd say but at worst he's definitely done an above average job. As @RamNut says patience is required and I'd add to that a better understanding of the enormity of the job in hand.

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With a realistic view of the constraints he has had to work under then he is doing a good job.

Selling Vyds was necessary sadly and he knew he'd have a budget to bring a few in. He chose Marriott and Waghorn, Zoon and Evans to spend some money on and bring a few loans in. Those signings we can judge him on, but not the complete package. He knows what he needs to change and I'm sure is much more understanding of the needs we have, but financially he is VERY restricted as to what he can do.  

Can the team play better, surely, and inconsistency is a sign of a team not there yet. But I'd rather watch this team try and play the way Lampard wants compared to the absolute dire football we were watching last year under Rowett any day of the week, twice on Saturdays and any day ending in Y.

January and Summer will be the final part of shifting out all those contracts and FFP restrictions we have been speaking about for so many years. Until that is sorted we will be unable to do exactly what we want, so I am looking forward to some games where we click and are exciting to watch, some average games and some poor ones at least until 2021. Anything more than that is a bonus.

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5 hours ago, TobyWanKenobi said:

Considering it's his first season as a manager I think he's done fine. Wasn't expecting to be challenging for playoffs so better than fine to be honest.

The real test comes next year with fully building his squad after all the poo leaves in the summer and making the promotion challenge then.

This for me too. I'm more than happy keeping in touch with the play offs, my only real concern now is not to see us fall away like a stone again. If you hear a pundit use the term "Spursey" you know what they mean and it's getting like that with us in the championship.So next game v Reading is massive for me. 

Frank's exceeded my expectations but now we're in 6th I want him to keep us up there.

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1 hour ago, Uptherams said:

5 points in 5 games isn't awful and neither is  still being 6th. 

It is for a team with ambitions of finishing in the top 6, over a season you would finish 20th with that sort of record.  Yes we have had some hard games, but when we can't even beat Rotherham, Bolton  or Millwall there is pressure on every game to get points on the board as there is clearly no easy games for us. We won't finish 6th if we carry on  relying on just a couple of players for goals and giving poo goals away in  nearly every game we play.

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10 hours ago, McLovin said:

Looking at the Rowett stats particularly, we had only scored 6 less than Wolves at the same stage, the same team many regard to be the best championship side ever, maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.

Also, it highlights what a balls up we made in the second half of last season.

The interesting thing for me is we always make a hash of January, Rowett was only allowed to bring in Cameron Jerome, McLaren was only allowed to sign Nugent and the less said about Clements January signings the better.

Fulham signed Mitrovic last January which you could argue was the difference between mid table and promotion. Get it right in Jan and it can make the difference.

 

 

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