‘Obviously worked’: Derby star tips Everton’s Lampard to ‘lay down the law’

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Curtis Davies has told talkSPORT that Everton players should expect Frank Lampard to ‘lay down the law’ as the new Toffees manager, following their time together at Derby County.

The Rams handed Lampard his big break into coaching after hiring the England icon as their new gaffer in 2018. He had only worked as a youth coach at Chelsea prior to taking over at Pride Park. But in his first, and only, season led the club to the Championship play-off final.

Chelsea then moved to replace Maurizio Sarri with a club legend, where Lampard held the reigns until January 2021. He also implemented a vast list of rules at Stamford Bridge that carried heavy fines. The penalty fees also doubled unless they were paid within 14-days.

The largest individual fine on Lampard’s list of 12 commandments was £20k for arriving late for training, via talkSPORT. The second largest was a £10k fine should a player fail to report an illness or injury before a day off or at the latest 90-minutes prior to training starting.

Lampard also fined players if they arrived late for gym work, treatment and meetings. The fine for attending meetings late was £500 for every minute over the scheduled start time.

Davies expects Lampard to ‘lay down the law’ as new Everton manager

Lampard also implemented a list of commandments and fines for any breaches at Derby. So, Davies expects the 43-year-old will follow his ways as the new Everton manager, too.

“He was very big on discipline,” Davies said. “As a manager, when you first come in, you want to lay down the law. It wasn’t a power play, as such, because Frank has that aura as a player anyway.

“But he wanted to have a disciplined squad. He thought if he had a disciplined squad off the pitch, he would get one on the pitch as well. The fines were hefty. Even for our level, they were hefty. But you didn’t see too many people late. So, it obviously worked.”

Lampard has this week to get settled as the new Everton manager ahead of his first match in charge. The Toffees host Brentford in the FA Cup on Saturday after edging Hull 3-2 after extra-time in the prior round. They then visit Newcastle in his first league game in charge.