Frank Lampard ready to return to management and could have plenty of options

FRANK LAMPARD is already plotting a return to management despite recent heartaches.

Lampard, 44, refuses to give up on his coaching ambitions despite being sacked by first Chelsea and then Everton in January at such a young age.

The former Derby boss has itchy feet and will watch summer developments closely, when both Crystal Palace and Leicester could face upheaval.

Even high-flying Fulham face a battle to keep Marco Silva with the Portuguese being linked with Tottenham, who in turn are set to lose their feisty Italian Antonio Conte.

And if struggling Southampton go down that could trigger another change at the top.

Lampard’s former Chelsea and England team-mate Ashley Cole was also a coaching casualty at Everton.

Asked what it was like seeing his ex-colleague go through it all, Cole replied: “I can only talk from my eyes and what I saw.

“He certainly would have had a lot of challenges that us, as coaches, weren’t aware of and stuff that was above us.

“How he has to manage up and manage the staff around him, of course it’s going to be difficult.

“Maybe it was a transitional period for the club, (so) it was always going to be hard.

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“It’s a humungous club, a huge club, with a lot of history.

“We had a good relationship with the fans, walking around the streets of Liverpool, there was probably frustration there because us as staff thought we should be going up the table, and we seemed to be just levelling out and going a bit lower in the rankings.

“That really hurt us, we want to do better for the club. But, was it just that we were there are the wrong time?”