Frank Lampard believes his turbulent spell in charge of Everton made him a better manager as he prepares to lead Chelsea in his first game since returning as interim boss.
He takes his new side to Molineux on Saturday to face Wolves, who were the club’s first opponents after Lampard was sacked by former owner Roman Abramovich in 2021.
The 44-year-old was dismissed mid-season, with the team in ninth place in the Premier League and trailing the top four by five points.
Lampard has inherited a rather bleaker situation from former manager Graham Potter, who was sacked on Sunday after 31 matches in charge, with a 14-point gap separating 11th-place Chelsea from the Champions League places.
The 12 months Lampard spent in charge at Goodison Park brought mixed fortunes, taking over in January last year and leading Everton to a dramatic escape from relegation in the season’s final days.
However, the team’s struggles continued into this campaign with little sign of progress on the pitch and ongoing problems for the club behind the scenes, leading to his removal with the side again fighting to stay in the top flight.
Chelsea’s interim boss believes those experiences have helped him evolve into the right fit to lead the team in the immediate post-Potter era while the club searches for a permanent replacement.
“I’ve reflected on having an amazing year at Everton personally,” said Lampard.
“It’s always an honour to manage a club of that status. We had an amazing moment together, staying in the Premier League. That will stay with me for a long time.
“I’ve definitely changed (since the first spell at Chelsea). I took some things that I changed on to Everton. You ‘evolve’ is probably a better word. I’ve always been very, very open to listening, to looking, to learning and reflecting. I’m certainly not a person who sits here and says I’ve got all the answers.
“There are things I look back on, things where I think I’ve maybe improved. The results will always be in how I perform here and how I can affect the players now.
“I think I have improved. There was a great manager, who’s not with us anymore, who said to me when I was first here in my office, there are things he did towards the end of his career, he reflected that he was actually a better coach in that way in his first year of managing.
“I understood what he meant there. In your early years of managing there’s a freshness and naivety. You look back and think ‘that was…
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