Lampard and Gerrard told "underachievement" is fuelling their management careers

03 March 2023 , 17:00

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Kieron Dyer thinks England's golden generation have turned to management to make up for "underachievement" (Image: Minnow Films)

Kieron Dyer believes England’s 'Golden Generation' have moved into management to make up for their “underachievement” as players.

The former Three Lions World Cup star is beginning his own coaching journey and a huge number of his former international team-mates have done the same. Ex-England stars Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Sol Campbell and Wayne Rooney have taken up management with differing levels of success.

Former Newcastle midfielder Dyer, who is doing his UEFA Pro Licence badge at St George’s Park, believes while they had success at club level, they are driven by not fulfilling their potential with England.

Dyer said: “It's a great point. The wives get fed up of us being around the house, there’s only so much time you can do at the house and there's only so many reality TV shows you can do. Are all these players you talked are comfortable? Yes.

“I've always been competitive, always wanted those juices to get flowing and playing golf with my mates is not going to do that. When it’s the Saturday and trying to get a result or get players contracts and that's when the juices flow.

Frank Lampard spotted for first time since Everton sacking with wife Christine

“Probably because we underachieved his England players as a team. You can't say Ashley Cole under-achieved in his career because you’re talking about a world-class player.

Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard went into management after they retired from playing (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

“But maybe that generation of players, because we underachieved as a country, we feel that we have to give something back to try and help our game grow. That's what I want to do, I want our game to grow.

“I wanted Eddie Howe to succeed. I was gutted Frank Lampard failed. I was gutted Steven Gerrard failed. I want English managers to do really well. I want black coaches to do really well, I want black managers to do really well.

“I’m fed up of the German FA in their Pro licence and they've got all the best managers and getting all the best jobs. We’ve got to turn that cycle somewhere and if we can help and we can come together with these courses, then it’s only going to benefit our game.”

John Cross