Derby boss Frank Lampard wants rule changes in wake of Leeds spygate scandal
The 40-year-old has revealed he is yet to receive an apology from Whites manager Marcelo Bielsa over the incident
FRANK LAMPARD has called for a rule change after Leeds United's ‘spygate’ scandal - to stop it happening again.
Derby boss Lampard confirmed he has not received an apology from Marcelo Bielsa after one of his Leeds staff was caught trying to snoop on a Rams training session 24 hours before the two sides met on Friday.
Lampard said that the man was spotted ‘on his hands and knees with pliers’ outside the training ground.
But the Rams manager refuses to switch pitches or 'build a wall' to keep prying eyes out.
Instead, Lampard wants the authorities to act - with the EFL discussing the issue.
Lampard said: “Let’s see how this is dealt with - it might change slightly in terms of the rules.
“The FA and league have certain rules on how clubs treat each other.
“I think it falls under that banner.
“There are loads of things we talk about in football like diving or people trying to gain an advantage, so I’m not sure what will change.
"But it's about what's right or wrong."
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Lampard admitted he did not want a 'sorry' from Bielsa and said: “No, he said everything he had to say.
“It wasn’t an apology from Leeds, it was an admission."
But Lampard feels if nothing is done, then the practice will be open to abuse.
He added: “Maybe, if it’s not dealt with. This wasn’t peeking over a fence - it was on hands and knees with pliers in hands.
“It seems there was intention and it stopped before that. But we won’t train on different pitches, they’re all similarly placed.
“We have security here, but maybe we didn’t expect it to be compromised as it was.
“But I won’t change anything. We’ll carry on and hope it doesn’t happen again.
“We’re not in a position to build a big tall wall, and we do have public land around us.”
But Lampard hit back at the critics who say Derby have over-reacted.
He added:“Pundits and ex-players who comment and say: 'It happened 20 years ago with people watching training’, well it’s not 20 years ago, it’s the modern day.
“We were working on our tactics specifically before the game.
“To say it’s not illegal, first of all, when you talk of legal in terms of sport, there are different benchmarks. To say it’s commonplace, I don’t believe it at all.
“There’s been talk that Chelsea used to do this years ago - but I never heard that. Certainly not in the form that it happened this time.
“For people to suggest it happened at other places and it’s all fine - that’s not what it is.
“I can’t wall the perimeter of the training ground while coaching the team and preparing them for the next day.
“There’s nothing we could’ve done about that."