TONY CASCARINO has revealed he once received a “spikey” phone call from Frank Lampard after he wrote about the Chelsea legend in his newspaper column.
Lampard, then still a player, is said to have called Cascarino to take exception to something written in The Times.
Lampard once called Cascarino over the latter’s newspaper column
Chelsea were thumped 3-0 at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday night, in a game the Blues boss described as “sobering”.
And Cascarino was brutal in his criticism of Lampard – after revealing all about their clash of heads a few years ago.
The former striker told talkSPORT: “It’s an awkward one with Frank, because we have had words before. Not bad, but I had a phone call and things were said.
“If I’m being brutally honest, I’ve always found Frank to be a little bit spikey with some of the things that you say.
“You can be complimentary but Frank takes it slightly the wrong way.”
Cascarino continued by saying he’s “not convinced” by Lampard’s management so far.
He continued: “I’m not convinced by his management at times this year, because I do think it’s an easy excuse just to go youngster, youngster – he’s changed that team a hell of a lot.
“I don’t like the Kepa issue. He deserved to get dropped, but keeping him out of the team – I’m not so sure that’s a good decision.
“You have to show loyalty to players sometimes, even after a bad game.
“But it’s happening all over the pitch, everywhere has been changed, everybody has been changed around.
“It’s really hard to guess Chelsea’s XI and that tells you in some way that Frank is spinning plates around his team.”
Cascarino went on to say he believes Lampard is being given a wide berth due to his inexperience – but there are glaring holes in this Chelsea team.
He added: “We’re giving him the benefit of the doubt because he’s new to this role of a Premier League manager.
“And Chelsea have been in a very difficult situation where there’s been a lot of change and no buying power.
“But what I see, just look at the games they’ve lost, the amount of games they’ve lost and the goals-against column – that tells you a big story, that they can’t defend very well.
“I can’t see [how that can improve] unless you buy new players, but you’ve also got to look at your system.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk