Chelsea Legend Lampard Gives Hope to Derby Youth Players
New Derby County boss Frank Lampard has suggested that young players from the club could be given first-team opportunities next season.
Lampard was named as the new Rams boss last week after former boss Gary Rowett left the club to take charge of Stoke City, who were relegated from the Premier League last season.
Since retiring from professional football in 2017, Lampard has made no secret of his desire to enter football management and this marks his first professional coaching stint. He joins former England teammate Steven Gerrard in entering the world of management; the Liverpool legend was recently appointed as the manager of Rangers.
Lampard has been tasked to take to the Rams to the Premier League for the first time since the 2007/18 campaign. Although the club has challenged for promotion during the past few years, they have not managed to actually achieve their objective of returning to the top flight.
Two particularly impressive youngsters from within the Derby team to watch out for are winger Luke Thomas as well as Jayden Bogle. Over the course of the past season, these two starlets were included on the first-team roster on a regular basis. Thomas started the term with the under-23 side but ended it travelling with the first team.
He went on to play 17 times for the club in the Premier League 2 for the U-23s, scoring an impressive six goals. As a reward for his performances, he was handed a first-team debut against Queens Park Rangers last November.
Lampard told the Derby Telegraph: “A big thing for me is showing the young lads they have a path to the first team.
“I am not talking about throwing people in at the deep end, I am talking about encouraging them and involving them, and if they show enough then they have the same status as any other player in the squad and they will get chances.
“So the door is certainly open, there is a path there for them.”
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