"He's VERY HUNGRY To Succeed!" Adrian Clarke Gives INSIGHT Into Lampard Joining Coventry!

Let's hear from Frank Lampard. We'll talk to Adrian Clarke in just a second, but Clarke, he was chatting to Frank Lampard ahead of his first game as commentary manager at home to Cardiff. Big boots to fill. Did the prospect of sort of following Mark Robbins make you think twice about applying? And does it add any more pressure? Well, I don't know. What I have got is a lot of respect for him and the job he did. I actually used to cross paths with Mark a bit when I was actually managing at Derby and was always very polite, always very respectful. So a really good football man who did a great job here. So I'm not sitting here to try and play myself off against him, tell him I'm going to do these great things. I think he's probably a good son of a good manager who is a manager that's left good roots for you to try and continue in your own way. So I'm very thankful for the work he's done here. I've got complete respect. I need to earn my respect through the work that I do. Simple as that. I'm quite humble about that. I'm not coming here as some kind of unveiling. This is, you know, shouting from the rooftops what I want to do. I want to get to work. Yeah, absolutely. Look, you haven't picked your first starting XI yet, but some of the fan base have been sceptical about the appointment. What would you say to those that are sort of saying that they're not sure how good you are as a manager? What would you say? No, listen, they're entitled to their opinions. I've got no worries about that. I think in the modern day, if you become a manager, you can't be too prickly. You can't probably listen to a lot of that. So thanks for telling me. But, you know, it's a serious fact that in this job, you are held up to high account even before you start the job. You know, that's the reality of it. I've got no problem with that. I've been used to it as a player for many years and as a manager and working in a job. I have a confidence in myself and I want to show how well I can do the job. I've also had a lot of support and found out that there's a lot of Coventry fans where I didn't even know in the last two or three weeks down in London, walking down the King's Road in certain areas. So it was a big, you know, another realisation of the history of this club and the strength of its fan base. So they can't all love me. They probably never all will love me, but I'll do my best to bring them the team they want. And then maybe they'll sort of like me. You've got a great interview. Yeah, I was going to say that. Cloaky Jones, hey Cloaky, how are you? Howdy, morning, afternoon. And without blowing smoke up your backside, that is a good question to ask. Not an easy question when you're facing someone, is it? No, I felt bad asking it, I've got to be honest. But I think a lot of the narrative, you know, I live locally, which I think, you know, TalkSport sent me over to do the chat. You can see the full interview, by the way, on TalkSport's YouTube channel. It sort of lasts about six minutes or so. But yeah, I thought I had to ask it because a lot of Coventry supporters, and there are plenty where I live, didn't really want Frank Lampard. And they're not sure whether he's a good manager or not. And but he's very likeable. I think he's, you know, he speaks very nicely. And I hope that he succeeds. I really do, because he's clearly got a passion for management. And, you know, he's had ups and downs, hasn't he? But but yeah, it was, you know, it was fascinating to get his insight on on on how he feels approaching approaching the gig. He's very hungry, I think, to succeed. Yeah, you get that sense. I mean, it's true, isn't it? And I suppose it's interesting with people like Rooney and Lampard who clearly just do not need the money. But I mean, you could say that for any manager who's had one payoff, right? They don't need the money. That is a fit, you know, and to and the the relentlessness of football management, right? It's not he is bright and he could easily he just walk into, you know, Sky every week, get, you know, six figures, have a nice time, get one of those podcasts and then, you know, be laughing on Instagram reels all the time and he'd be great and he'd be really popular, etc. And so, you know, for him, it is you sort of go, he is desperate to be successful, right? And the one thing that comedy fans are skeptical should know is that he is so desperate for this to work because I bet he is absolutely desperate to never have to be asked that question that you just asked him. Yeah, exactly. And I sat in on the main press conference as well. And a lot of the questions were along that line. You know, you don't need this. Why are you bothering? And he was like, how do you know I don't need it? You know, he said, I get I get the I get the why you're asking it, obviously, Freddie, financially. But he said, I'm in my 40s. I want to work. Yeah. And the work that I like best is improving players, winning matches and sort of trying to develop a team. And I give him full credit for taking the gig. And yeah, he's got a good squad as well. I tell you, Coventry City are languishing at the minute, you know, bottom half. But they can absolutely still challenge for the playoffs this season. So, yeah, I hope it goes all right for him. What do you know? He never even played the game, Clarkie. It is a great job to take, I think. Now that they're back at their own stadium, they do seem to have a bit of a budget for the championship. We spoke on H&J to a couple of fans a couple of weeks ago, and they were expecting to be top top four, at least top, sorry, top six, at least in the championship. So this has come as a real shock for them. I suppose the first thing he has to do, consolidate, make sure they stay up. And then try and push on. I don't know if he can do all that in one season. Yeah, he wouldn't get drawn in the main presser on ambitions for this season, but I think they can still push for the playoffs. I don't think they need to worry about staying up. They have a really good squad. They've got good strikers, lots of them. Excellent midfielders, wingers. It's in defence where they've been a little bit leaky. They keep retaining their goalkeepers as well. They can't seem to decide which one to pick. But no, there's a lot of potential there. And Mark Robbins had them performing at the top end of the division year after year. And that's where I expect them to be come the end of this season. But yeah, look, he's left his young family back down south at the moment. He said he will move them up in the new year. But at the moment, he said, there's so much work to be done. I've just got to throw myself into it and see where it takes us. So, yeah, look, I'm sure that Coventry fans will get behind Frank. He's got a good opener, I've got to say. Maybe these advanced talks that took about two weeks might have had something to do with the victory. Because that's a really, really challenging game. Sheffield United was one. Cardiff at home feels like a good opener. And I think they'll win today. Yeah. You mentioned the goalkeepers. I've started to think that Steve Grudziewicz's time is coming to an end. Can I ask you about a massive game last night? Sheffield United being Sunderland at the top of the table was just a huge result, wasn't it? Saved penalties as well, wasn't it? Yeah, it was a good penalty save, wasn't it? I'll tell you what, if this guy had been there last year, Sheffield United wouldn't have been as bad as they were. Because they really struggled in the goalkeeper department last season with the two that they had. Michael Cooper, they got him from Plymouth. He's top notch. And he's got so many clean sheets this season. I knew this would be a tight game. And obviously, it was a bit of drama with two red cards and a penalty being saved. But yeah, Sheffield United are solid. Really, really solid. And they've got some excellent players as well. Raksaki is a terrific player on loan from Palace at the moment. Keep your eye on him. But yeah, I do fancy Sheffield United and Leeds are the two real standouts. Sunderland have done well to challenge. And they might stick around at the top end of the table. But yeah, Sheffield United, Leeds and probably Burnley are the pick at the minute. And what's next for you? You touch line at Anfield to go, Pep, that was garbage you off. Now you're the Paxman of TalkSport. Hard guy. Asking the difficult questions. Yeah, no, I'm down at Arsenal later on today. So that'd be good. Comments on that. And tomorrow, if you fancy a bit of FA Cup action, early doors, I'm on TalkSport 2. With Flo Pollock, we're doing commentary of Kittering versus Doncaster Rovers. So they sent us there, I reckon, because they think it's going to be an upset. It's a 12 noon kickoff.