Frank Lampard sends Leeds United message six years after ‘spygate’ scandal
Former Derby County manager Frank Lampard was embroiled in a spying scandal with Leeds United that culminated in a dramatic play-off semi-final
On Tuesday night, when Coventry City travels to Sunderland for the second leg of their Championship semi-final against Leeds United, Frank Lampard wants his new team to duplicate the performance of his former team, Derby County.
Before the two teams played each other in the Championship, a member of the backroom staff of then-manager Marcelo Bielsa was charged in January 2019 for spying on Derby’s training session. After then, Bielsa acknowledged that he had dispatched a staff person to see each team before playing them.
Leeds would be fined £200,000 by the EFL for this admission, and new regulations would prohibit staff members from going to their opponent’s training facility 72 hours before to a game unless specifically invited. It turned out that the Whites would play Derby in the playoffs that season.
Despite winning the first leg 1-0 at Pride Park, the Whites’ tragic journey ended when they were eliminated from the playoffs 4-3 on aggregate at Elland Road. Six years later, Lampard, who is currently at Coventry, is up against a similar challenge after his team’s 2-1 loss to Sunderland at the CBS Arena on Friday.
Eliezer Mayenda intercepted Milan van Ewijk’s weak back pass to give the Black Cats the lead when it appeared that the match would end 1-1. Lampard thought back on the comeback over Leeds as he considered the second leg in the northeast.
“I guess looking back, it has got to be tactically one of my favourite games that I’ve coached even to this point because I was going up against Bielsa and a team that I felt were really, really strong,” he explained. “I don’t think they (Leeds) or anybody else really expected us to turn that game around.
“I really enjoyed that for what it meant for the club. It was one of the first main games for me as a coach where I thought: ‘I’ve gone up against a really good coach, tweaked something and the lads did the rest.'”
In the end, Derby lost to Aston Villa, and Dean Smith’s team was promoted to the Premier League. The Rams won the Championship last weekend, and Coventry might join Leeds in the top flight if they can duplicate their performance from all those years ago.
On Monday night, Sheffield United leads Bristol City 3-0 heading into their second leg at Bramall Lane in the other play-off semi-final.
