Frank Lampard heads for his master-and-apprentice reunion with Jose Mourinho warning: “We’re all sackable at any moment.”
Under-fire Mourinho goes head-to-head with his former Chelsea kingpin for the first time as rival managers when Derby’s underdogs go in search of a Carabao Cup scalp at Old Trafford.
Former England midfielder Lampard, 11 games into his club coaching career, won three Premier League titles – two of them under Mourinho’s tutelage – at Stamford Bridge.
And although he does not subscribe to the ‘third-season syndrome’ which blighted Mourinho at Chelsea twice, Lampard admitted: “The fact is, any manager who goes beyond three years (in one job) now is probably the exception to the rule.
“I don’t think it’s anywhere near specific for Jose – that’s the nature of how the game has gone.
“Of course in management, we know we’re all sackable at any moment. I am, he is, every manager is.
“But at the same time, when he’s had the success he’s had, as long as he goes on, people are going to want Jose Mourinho as their manager.”
United are already eight points behind leaders Liverpool in the title race, and Saturday’s sterile draw with promoted Wolves left World Cup winner Paul Pogba’s demand to “attack, attack, attack” put him on a collision course with Mourinho over his cautious approach.
And Lampard insists his old boss does NOT deserve to be pigeon-holed as a negative tactician, saying: “We certainly weren’t at Chelsea, although we got painted as negative because we could grind out a win when not at our best.
“Jose Mourinho does have a style, of course he does, but it will be a style to get the best out of players to win a game.
“I don’t know how he approaches things at Manchester United … I don’t know if his qualities are timeless, but we all adapt and change to circumstances.”
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