‘Could do the job standing on their head’ – Frank Lampard & Steven Gerrard backed to compete for England manager job as Harry Kane & Co would be ‘desperate’ to play under one of the midfield legends

Harry Redknapp has questioned why Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are not in England’s thoughts as both could do the job “standing on their head”.

WHAT HAPPENED?
The Three Lions find themselves in the market for a new manager after seeing Gareth Southgate bring the curtain down on his eight-year tenure. He oversaw runs to the World Cup semi-finals and back-to-back European Championship finals, but was unable to bring a 58-year wait for tangible success to a close in the men’s game.

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  WHAT REDKNAPP SAID

  The likes of Graham Potter and Eddie Howe are considered to be leading contenders to take over from Southgate, but Redknapp – who was overlooked on a regular basis by England when at the peak of his coaching powers – has told The Sun of casting the recruitment net a little wider: “The men I see as obvious front-runners will be lucky to even get an interview. I doubt there are many who’d agree with me when I say the FA should look no further than Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard for the next Three Lions boss. Either of them could do the job standing on their head, yet probably neither will get so much as a phone call. Mind you, plenty of people will insist there’s no reason why they should because they’ve already written off both as failures. Forgetting that Frank reached an FA Cup final and finished fourth in his first spell at Chelsea. Or the fact that Everton were in such a mess, he never had a prayer when he went there.

  “There’s every chance they’ll gloss over Stevie’s time at Rangers, despite their first title win in a decade — unbeaten as well — and say he was a flop at Aston Villa. But you show me a manager who’s not had a tough time of it somewhere down the line. Potter certainly did at Chelsea — he only lasted 31 games and lost 11 of them. So did Unai Emery, the man who replaced Stevie as boss at Villa, when he was Arsenal manager. It happens to everyone out there. So what’s the difference between Potter and Frank? Why is one an obvious candidate for England, yet the other not even worthy of a mention?”

  • THE BIGGER PICTURE

    Redknapp added, with ex-England striker Gary Lineker another to have suggested that Lampard should be in the mix: “If the FA want someone steeped in football knowledge — at international level too — and who knows the game inside out at that level, both Frank and Stevie leave them standing. The players would love it as well. They’d be desperate to play for them. They would have nothing but respect whether it was Lampard or Gerrard as boss. So, are they both on the scrapheap for good because they’ve had a failure somewhere down the line? There won’t be any managers left before long if that’s all it takes.

    “And here’s another thing as well. While you need a thick skin to be a club manager, it’s not a patch on the one demanded at international level. That goes for players — certainly the senior ones — as well. And Stevie and Frank could tell you all about that better than most. Some of the stuff Frank had to put up with back in the day was horrendous, horrible stuff. It was the same for Gerro, especially when he was captain. But the pair of them stood up and came through it. And that’s the sort of character you want and need as England manager.”

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    WHAT NEXT?

    Lampard and Gerrard both earned over 100 caps for England in their playing days. The latter, who is a Liverpool legend, is currently coaching in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq while Chelsea great Lampard has been out of work since bringing a second stint at Stamford Bridge – which saw him take the reins on an interim basis – to a close in the summer of 2023.

    Source goal.com