JODY Morris insists former teammate and Coventry City boss Frank Lampard will make it back to the Champions League as a manager one day.
Morris played with Lampard for two seasons at Chelsea and later assisted the Sky Blues boss in coaching roles at Derby County and Chelsea.
Lampard managed Chelsea in the Champions League for two seasons and guided the club through the group stages in 2020/21 before losing his job in January 2021.
Chelsea went on to win the competition that season under current England boss Thomas Tuchel.
And Morris expects Lampard to return to the Champions League stage as a manager following his success with Coventry since taking charge at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Speaking to FindSisterSites, Morris said: “Frank [Lampard] will absolutely make it back to the Champions League as a manager.
“I think he’s been the best manager anywhere across all English leagues since he joined Coventry, even not taking this season into account.
“He took them from 17th into the play-offs last season. I thought they were the better team against Sunderland and were unlucky not to reach the final.
“For them to then bounce back is testament to Frank and the players. They’ve done an amazing job and rightly won Championship manager of the season.”
Lampard has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs during his time in charge of the Sky Blues.
However, Morris insists Lampard is happy at Coventry and does not expect the City boss to move on from the club any time soon.
Morris added: “Coventry used to be a Premier League mainstay when I was growing up, and they’ve found it very difficult to get back there, despite having some really top managers.
“Mark Robins was very unlucky and did a great job there. It’s phenomenal for Frank.
“It’s the nature of football that he’s going to be linked with all these Premier League jobs, and I think he’ll definitely be back in the Champions League one day.
“Whether it’s next season or not is another question. I think Frank’s really happy at Coventry. Every time I’ve spoken to him, he loves it.
“He loves his group of players, and the fans have rightly taken to him massively. He has an outstanding relationship with the fans.”
Morris warned Lampard and Coventry against making too many changes to the playing squad and urged the club to target players with Premier League experience in the transfer market.
Morris said: “The difficulty then becomes whether Coventry can give Frank the tools and opportunity to try and stay up in the Premier League.
“But again, it’s one of those great problems you face when you manage to get promotion out of such a difficult league. It’s amazing for Frank and his staff to have got them over the line.
“He’s rightly being linked with all these big jobs, whether he goes anywhere is another question.
“They obviously need to add some Premier League experience, but it’s a fine line and a hard balance to strike.
“You want to add quality with Premier League experience. He loves the character and togetherness of the group and how well they play for each other.
“That’s something you don’t want to break up. You don’t want to make too many changes that take away those influential voices in the dressing room that are the glue keeping the group together.
“Adding too many players can upset the rhythm and the cohesiveness of the group.
“It’s about finding that fine balance of adding quality and maybe experience, without separating the group’s mentality and togetherness.”
