While Lampard’s Coventry City side booked their place in the play-offs as they beat Boro 2-0 on the final day of the regular Championship season on Saturday, the Teessiders’ defeat meant they finished the campaign in tenth, the worst finishing position of Carrick’s three-year tenure.
Boro’s failure to qualify for the play-offs has led to renewed questions over Carrick’s future, with Steve Gibson set to lead a series of post-season debriefs in the next few days.
Carrick stressed his desire to continue as head coach in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s defeat, but Gibson will have to consider whether the former England international is capable of turning things around after a disappointing campaign that saw Boro finish with a record of 18 victories and 18 defeats.
Lampard admits he does not know the minutiae of what has been happening on Teesside in the last 12 months, but with Emmanuel Latte Lath having been sold in the January window and with star loanee Ben Doak having been unavailable for most of the second half of the season, the Coventry boss says it is important to consider the wider picture when assessing Carrick’s record.
“I hate to talk too much about other managers because I understand that there’s always context there that I have absolutely no idea about,” said the Coventry boss, whose side will now face Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals. “I’m sure Michael knows what’s going on.
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“He’ll know the reasons for that first season when he flew up the league. He’ll know the things he affected and the things that went in his favour. We’ve all got that.
“Then he’ll also have a good idea and a good thinking about what maybe didn’t go right this season to not make the play-offs.
“There’s always be context and background things behind that, but I don’t know what they are. It might be injuries, it could be the squad, it could be this, it could be that.
“I wouldn’t want to say too much on that, other than that Michael Carrick is a really, really good coach. He’s a top man.”
Lampard and Carrick were team-mates when they were beginning their respective playing careers together at West Ham, and they also played alongside each other on a number of occasions with England.
Saturday was the first time they had gone up against each other as coaches, with the mutual respect obvious both before and after the final whistle.
“I don’t whether Michael will benefit from what’s happened, but what I would say is that I’ve got absolute respect for Michael,” said Lampard. “He’s a really smart man, and a gentleman. He’s a standout gentleman in the game.”
