Yesterday, Derby were defeated in the Championship play-off final by Aston Villa, causing more speculation about Frank Lampard’s future at the club.
There has been on-going rumours surrounding where Lampard will end up next season, will he stay at Derby and try win promotion again or will he end up back at Chelsea, but in a managerial role this time?
When questioned in an interview with Sky Sports News about the speculation, Lampard was quick to claim he wasn’t interested in discussing his future.
I’m not interested in the speculation. What is likely is I’ll speak to Mel Morris, the owner, in the next few days when the dust settles and then we’ll see how it goes.
He went on to say how much he has enjoyed working with this club this season:
I’ve got a two-year contract and I love working at this place.
Lampard’s first season as a manager has had ups and downs, his squad have spent time outside the top six, and have also been a part of it. Ending up finishing sixth – claiming a place in the play-offs for the eighth time.
Then, success in the second leg of the play-offs, away against Leeds United, meant the Rams visited Wembley. However, this time Lampard wasn’t so lucky with mistakes from his players resulting in a 2-1 loss.
Lampard is already setting his sights on next season at Derby:
We’ve got players out of contract, so it’s work for us to put right. It’s important we start the work really quickly [for next season] because the squad is very thin now for next year.
From Lampard’s interview, it seems he is more focused on Derby and trying to get them back in the play-offs and hopefully to the Premier League again next year. He won’t be distracted by the possibility of managing Chelsea until a real offer comes in.
