Lampard’s first Chelsea press conference was like a wedding with family sitting at the front to witness his vows
I DON'T really need to go to manager unveilings any more.
They are all streamed online these days, but I find myself drawn to them and have attended so many.
I think you can get a real insight into what those players will feel from a new manager if you’ve sat there and looked them in the eye.
Having worked at two clubs who are a little trigger-happy I’ve sat in my fair share of these press conferences and they are all so different.
From the ‘Hollywood’ ones at the Bernabeu where they’d spend two days building a stage to parade the new boss around, to the little ‘out house’ at Watford, I’ve seen them all and love them in equal measure.
Of course, there is no correlation between how well an unveiling went and the success of the manager, so let’s not be too quick to judge here, take Andre Villas Boas’ Chelsea unveiling.
It was impressive, really impressive. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given his job before management.
His presser was meticulous in detail, he name checked every journalist that spoke and referred back to previous questions that had been asked.
He had the attention of everyone in that room. But look how that turned out, he was out the door in less than a year.
A relaxed Jurgen Klopp after four months holiday spent playing tennis and watching football when finally money and time aligned, showed us his ‘happy go lucky’ nature.
He gave himself the tag ‘the normal one’ and tried to make light of questions about ‘the transfer committee’ with his goofy smile and short bursts of laughter.
A FAMILY AFFAIR
But when too many humorous questions followed he was quick to show us he could be Mr Serious too.
He had an answer for everything.
Conte’s presser was empty compared to AVB and Mourinho before him, what with summer holidays, the Euros and Wimbledon, bad timing.
I’d just returned from France but I hurried down to Stamford Bridge and asked if he’d be playing with five at the back.
It seemed a simple and obvious question at the time, but as time would tell, it turned out that the ‘five-at-the back’ chat began to dominate Chelsea’s season.
Who could forget Joe F***ing Kinnear at Newcastle who decided to dig out the journalists right from the off, calling them a name I dare not even asterisk. Show ‘em who’s boss eh?
When Manuel Pellegrini was announcing to the gathered media he’d be leaving, his successor Pep Guardiola popped up on Sky Sports News just to the side of him, slightly awkward, but timely.
NO 'SPECIAL ONE' THIS TIME
I did everything in my power not to shout and point at the screen and highlight the irony.
But the prize must go to Jose Mourinho “Please don’t call me arrogant…I’m not one out of the bottle, I think I’m a special one”.
That quickly morphed into “THE Special One” and has formed the basis of almost every unveiling since, ‘The Group One’ (of AVB) ‘The Normal One’ (of Klopp), and ‘The Happy One’ from Jose himself, even though he turned out not to be.
So what did I make of Lampard’s? Well the announcement certainly took its time.
I stayed up until 11 pm having seen the pictures of him arriving at Stamford Bridge.
But eventually the announcement came at 9am on Thursday morning, ironically for me just as my five year old was limbering up for his very first Sport’s Day, clad all in Blue.
EXCITED LAMPARD
He won his 100 metre race, but I did notice he started just before they said “go”.
A headstart can be a huge advantage can’t it?
That’s exactly what Lampard has.
He walked into the room to a ripple of applause. He was smart, serious, friendly, humble, all the things we know Frank Lampard to be.
Was he nervous? If he was he hid it well. Excited would better describe it, The Drake suite at Stamford Bridge is like home for him.
As he looked around the crowd he was amongst friends, colleagues, faces he’s seen a thousand times and there were many “welcome homes”.
YOUTH THE WAY FORWARD
The front row was reserved for Chelsea staff, in came Petr Cech (newly appointed technical and performance advisor) and a group of others, it reminded me of a wedding with family at the front.
The opening question was opened up to the room, which already felt more relaxed, usually it would go to the club channel or to Sky Sports.
He spoke of the challenge ahead and confronted his inexperience front on, referencing youth many times.
It had a good balance of being personal and professional and the overall sense was that he couldn’t wait to get going.
He answered my questions about his backroom staff, putting several rumours to rest, and reiterated that he wanted to surround himself by hard workers, not just former Chelsea players.
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A great work ethic, something he has always possessed.
He wouldn’t give himself a name, but I might suggest “the hard working one”.
So he’s passed his first test under the headlights and it won’t get too much tougher a start than a first Premier League game at Old Trafford against the Red Devils. Talk about Baptism of fire.