Harsh new realities mark Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard's first managerial battle

So deeply linked are the golden careers of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard that, as they prepare to face each other as managers for the first time, Gerrard recalls that their history goes back even further than we had imagined.

In fact it was Gerrard who first noticed Lampard. The young would-be, unknown Liverpool midfielder travelled to Upton Park in 1996 – two years before his debut - to watch a West Ham United side featuring Lampard and Rio Ferdinand lose to a Liverpool team with Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen in the two-legged final of the FA Youth Cup.

"I'd watched Frank even before I’d made my debut," Gerrard recalls. "Frank, obviously being a couple of years older than me [they are now 44 and 42 respectively], broke onto the scene before me. So I was aware he was a top player before he even knew I existed."

What Gerrard and Lampard then achieved on the pitch is the stuff of legend for Liverpool and Chelsea although there was always that backdrop of how it never quite worked for them with England, despite both earning more than 100 caps, and the insinuation that it was partly because they did not like each other.

"He’s someone I’ve always got on with, contrary to a lot of reports about rivalries," Gerrard says before talking warmly about the chats he, Lampard, Ferdinand and John Terry had towards the end of their playing careers about the big question: what next?

For Gerrard there was no doubt he wanted to go into coaching and management and it appears Lampard felt the same after both dabbled with a career in the media. Gerrard is candid about why.

"For me it was the thought of the void," he says. "I really missed playing, I really missed the Premier League, being around the dressing room with the opportunity to win and compete.

"I am fascinated by the tactical side of the game and I have always been fascinated, certainly at the middle and the end of my career, what it is like on the other side. I have known from pretty early on I wanted to have a go at it myself.

"A lot of players are the complete opposite. They get to the end of their career and want more freedom and family time. That is not to say I don’t want that. But I am not sure how I would cope with the void."

Not that it has been easy for Gerrard at Villa or Lampard at Everton as they prepare to meet at Villa Park at lunchtime on Saturday. That each lost their first Premier League game this season  sharpens the need for a result even more – or they will inevitably slip into the role of an early-season crisis club with questions over whether the manager can cope.

Having ended Celtic’s run of nine straight league titles in Scotland and re-established Rangers, Gerrard succeeded Dean Smith at Villa last November but after winning four of the first six league games suffered a run of just two wins in the last 10 to finish a disappointing 14th. It was an undeniably poor end to the campaign.

Lampard, after taking Derby County to the Championship play-offs and steering Chelsea to fourth place and back into the Champions League while under a transfer embargo, was stuck in a desperate, if ultimately successful, relegation battle having taken over Everton at the end of January. It means the doubts persist and the Villa fans could turn should Gerrard lose.

Although Lampard has also suggested that their status as players will always influence how they are regarded as managers, it is not something Gerrard necessarily agrees with.

"Maybe. I haven't given it much thought of what others think," he says. "But speaking completely for myself I have that extra determination to prove to people that I can be a success as a manager.

"In certain people's minds they believe you're given certain jobs and offers on the back of a playing career. It plays a part - of course it does - your leadership skills are there for everyone to see when you play.

"But I made it abundantly clear that I wanted to start at the beginning on my journey. I went into Liverpool's Academy for 18 months to try to learn and grow to see if it was for me.

"I gave it big consideration before deciding to take a big opportunity up at Rangers. So I'd like to think I've done my apprenticeship.

"Whether that's long enough in other people's opinions I don't know but I certainly turned a lot of opportunities down. One of them being here [at Villa] as No 2 to [former manager] Steve Bruce [in 2016].

"I turned a lot of opportunities down because I felt they were coming off the back of a playing career and not necessarily on me being ready for coaching or management."

There is also, when it comes to a player with the reputation enjoyed by Gerrard or Lampard, the elephant in the room - what if their managerial careers are not successful? Will it taint what they have previously achieved?

"I don’t care about it," Gerrard says emphatically. "I am not interested in anyone else thinking about it. It does not cross my mind one little bit. It is a completely different journey. It is the same game. But if I go on and achieve a lot of things as a manager or if I achieve nothing moving forward, nothing is going to change in terms of the stats and my performances as a player. That is done. It is there. This is a different journey. I don’t want to be judged as a player any more.”