The search for top class English/British managers.

So there will be an English manager at the tournament.

Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia will be a difficult group.

 

Two in fact. Darren Bazeley manager of New Zealand has an England U21 cap.

 

And yet England will have a German manager. Ridiculous.

 

Former Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney, who is currently working as a TV pundit, is open to getting back into football management for the start of next season - Sun on Sunday.

 

Eddie Howe has been given private assurances that his position as Newcastle United head coach is safe after comments from the club's chief executive, David Hopkinson, last week appeared to cast doubt on his future - The Times

 

at what point are we going to give Frank Lampard his flowers?

 

When he wins the League, World Cup or Euros?

 

In what respect? He’s still proving himself as a manger. No one particular rates or gives Scott Parker his flowers and he’s been promoted 3 times, and is younger than Lampard.

 

Context matters.

Scott Parker’s 3 promotions? All with parachute-payment squads or top-3 wage bills. Lampard’s working with a fraction of that and improving players + style.

One is delivering expectation. The other is outperforming it.

I respect Lampard's persistent reinvention as a manager.

That's my angle to him getting his flowers.

Some thoughts behind it: Lampard took over a side outside top 6 contention and moved them into promotion (or playoff) capacity. A squad sitting 17th and trending downward. Robins built Coventry from the ground up, no one disputes that, but Lampard accelerated that advancement.

Passing glance at Lampard's stats from a team persecptive - a noticeable jump in attacking output (goals + chance creation trending upward vs pre-appointment baseline) with a tactical shift toward higher possession + higher field tilt vs prior regime

Personal bias is his improvement with "young" (ish) core set of unheralded, primarily English, players rather than relying on a parachute squad or budget dominance

Now compare that to Scott Parker:

• 3 promotions as manager:
  • Fulham (2020 playoffs)
  • Bournemouth (2022 automatic promotion, 88 points)
  • Burnley (2023 Championship winners, 101 points)
• All three came with top-end Championship resources (parachute squads / strongest wage or squad profiles in the division in those seasons)
• Promotion expectation each time vs the mid-table climb like Lampard

 

Interim head coach Michael Carrick is now in pole position to become Manchester United’s permanent manager after the former England midfielder, 44, helped the club secure 23 points from a possible 30 since taking charge in January. (Talksport, external)

 

He deserves credit for the job he’s done at Coventry, which is in contrast to most of his work at Everton and Chelsea, but think theres only so much praise you give someone for the job they do in Championship. I’ll give him bouquet of roses, if he stabilises Coventry as a mid table PL club.

 

Again, context is important. Lampard's career trajectory suggests the Everton stint was more about the situation than his ability. He had a respectable record at Derby (42%) and Chelsea (52%), and he's currently leading the Championship with Coventry City at a ~53% win rate...surely you can agree that's a significant redemption arc?

Objectively, his win rate and performance at Everton was poor, but Lampard was arguably set up to fail at a club deep in structural crisis. The fact that he kept them up at all in his first half season is an achievement that often gets forgotten. Not to mention the boardroom issues (no budget, etc.).

 

Lampard might turn out to be one of these managers who's not quite elite (tactically), but tries to play progressive football and promote young players into the first team.

If he mirrored his uncle's (Harry Redknapps) ideology at West Ham. It can only be a good thing for English football

 

If he does ok with Coventry you could certainly see the media pushing for Lampard to replace Tuchel post Euros. (Or before if Tuchel has become truly unpopular)

 

🚨 Newcastle United owners continue to support Eddie Howe, with all parties intending to evaluate manager situation in summer. Review + any contingency work seen by those involved as normal - no serious talks yet over #NUFC head coach change @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/uae7t9JLTs

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) April 13, 2026

 

Think Carrick might have blown his chance tonight.

 

I think they might just see how he does at the end of the season rather than basing it on a loss to Leeds.

 

definitely not the red card or in the injuries.

 

Newcastle’s hierarchy are continuing to include boss Eddie Howe in discussions on transfer plans for the summer despite uncertainty over his future at St James' Park for the first time. (The I)

 

Bournemouth are considering Rayo Vallecano boss Inigo Perez, Coventry City manager Frank Lampard and Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna as they plan for life after Andoni Iraola, who has decided to leave at the end of the season. (i Sport)

 

Gary O´Neil seems to be turning the tie around against Mainz after losing the first game 2:0. They´ve missed a pen but just scored the 3:0. Lique 1 granted Straßbourg the week off too.

 

🚨Exclusive: Former England defender Ashley Cole on his first managerial job at Cesena 🇮🇹

Modernising the team on the pitch — and embracing life off it.

Piadinas, Italian lessons and no shortcuts back to England.https://t.co/5njloyILJ3

— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) April 16, 2026

 

I’m probably getting boring with this now but I do think managers are overrated. We saw Kompany do well in The Championship with a parachute team and then do very badly in the PL trying to play football with the same team. Then he gets the Bayern job and does well. Why? Because managing that Bayern team is like managing that Burnley team in The Championship. If you give someone keys to a Ferrari when everyone else is driving a Ford Focus then they’re going to win the race.

If Lampard tries to play football with that Coventry side in the PL they’re going down. He certainly won’t be getting offered the Bayern job or similar but why not? He’s proven himself to be a great footballing coach in unfavourable circumstances this season, what he did was more impressive than what Kompany did with Burnley. He’ll always be coloured by the unfavourable perception of English coaches and that he wasn’t brilliant in his first two PL jobs. Both are irrational takes in my opinion because I believe that managers need the right players to succeed first and foremost and as Alex Ferguson always said they need a lot of luck. If I owned a big club with top players I’d roll the dice on Lampard. If not least to test my theory.

 

I agree with you that player quality and squad building are the ultimate determinants of success but if Bayern hired Frank Lampard with the same team they have under Kompany they'd be markedly worse imo.

The way Bayern play with their positional rotations does genuinely require top coaching. It ultimately works because the players are very good but a top coach like Kompany gives them the framework to maximise their abilities.

I agree Lampard's job at Coventry is more impressive than Kompany's at Burnley but the way Coventry play is not how any elite team would approach the game imo. Kompany's football at Burnley was ultimately extremely naive but you could see how it might be very effective with better players. I remember thinking thinking it at the time:

 

Wonder what the chances Kompany ends up England manager someday. With his English wife and long term career at Man City and then Burnley he would be a suitable selection.