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Untimely BBC announcement produces further criticism for Lampard

Photo by Andy Marlin/USA Today Sports
Photo by Andy Marlin/USA Today Sports

Given his contributions, or lack thereof, with New York City FC this season, Frank Lampard is in desperate need of some good PR. Monday’s BBC release provided nothing of the sort, as the disconnect between NYCFC fans and their English Designated Player reached yet another level.

BBC announced on Monday that Lampard would be one member of the network’s Euro 2016 coverage team. Lampard is far from the first MLS player to partake in overseas media work, but Monday’s announcement certainly made him the most scrutinized.

Lampard’s NYCFC saga is well known. Following a lengthy contract debate that preceded his time with the club, Lampard finally made the move stateside after completing a full season on loan with parent club Manchester City. The Englishman’s first season never truly got going, with just 10 appearances and three goals serving as a highlight of the 2015 season.

2016 has proven far worse for the 37-year-old. Despite commanding a $6 million salary, Lampard has yet to play a minute for NYCFC this season. Repeatedly asked about his star’s absence, head coach Patrick Vieira himself says he is unsure of when Lampard will return from a series of injuries that have plagued him since initially joining MLS.

That makes Lampard’s decision to participate in BBC’s coverage all the more tone-deaf, even if the midfielder will spend exactly as much time in France as he has on the field for NYCFC this season; none.

It’s not the idea of multitasking, as Thierry Henry, Steven Gerrard and Tim Howard have juggled playing careers with British punditry over the years. Rather, it’s the fact that, if things continue, Lampard won’t be multitasking at all while still collecting a massive paycheck from his primary employers, NYCFC.

In Lampard’s defense, the idea of making a few TV appearances has little to no impact on his ability to get, and ultimately stay, healthy. Putting on makeup and discussing games a half a world away won’t suddenly harm his ailing hamstrings any further, and they certainly won’t prevent him from training with NYCFC any time soon.

But for a player that has had fans calling for his head before he even put on a jersey, the decision provides another dark mark on what was supposed to be a monumental move. While captain David Villa has reached, and likely even exceeded, every single expectation, Lampard has reached none of them with time dwindling on his chance to do so.

When all is said and done, Lampard’s work with BBC may serve as little more than a blip for a player still preparing for his life away from the game. But if Lampard’s current issues continue, it could become yet another defining moment in what has proven to be a failed experiment with NYCFC.

Comments

  1. I remember that guy from FIFA 1998. I love that name: it sounds exactly like what a NYCFC fan would say to Frank Lampard if they found themselves next to him at the pub.

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  2. This happened to the Red Bulls — I think it was the 2006 World Cup? I was over in Europe and was shocked to see some Frenchman in the booth instead of playing for his MLS team. Then again, he barely played for them and wasn’t missed.

    Ah, found it — Youri Djorkaeff

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  3. Unless the team doctor is saying he’ll be ready before or during the Euros, I don’t get what the big deal is…did any Bolton supporters get pissed at Stu for being an announcer/commentator while he was out long term with injury?

    If Frank has no chance of being reinstated to the lineup before the tourney, why wouldn’t you want to get more publicity for your team in the largest soccer market in the world?

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    • You’re under the mistaken impression that Lampard being on television equals exposure for NYCFC. That’s a weird take and you should take it back.

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      • Might want to cover up there, guy…your lack of understanding of marketing and publicity is showing. When you’re a young brand it’s all about publicity and exposure, no matter how good or bad. “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” is not an idiom for no reason.

    • Lampard but bad publicity for NYCFC and the league at this point. He is the poster boy for cashing a last fat check in the retirement league of MLS.

      Yes many Bolton supporters did become tired of Holden’s injury issues at a certain point. The Championship isn’t like MLS of coarse either, where that salary equals a wasted a DP spot on the team.

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    • This is a great question. Almost assuredly, every team has signed a player to (more or less) big money deal and not gotten any production so each person will be biased to their own team’s stiff(s). You’d have to look at guys who have extra black marks against them- guys who not only didn’t produce for their salary but had extra baggage. Since Frank is the face of the “Man City Jr.” stuff he’d qualify. Maybe Marquez for NYRB since he was also such a tool. As a Union fan I’d nominate Rais M’Bohli- not paid as much as the others, but he spawned the annoying (to me) Union GK jokes and proved himself to be a total locker room mood-killer. All in 11 games! Banished to France. His efficiency at stinking would be hard to beat.

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    • It’s probably between him and Rafa at this point. Lampard has been a pretty positive voice at least, where Rafa was pretty awful. However Lampard is on a couple million more then even Rafa was.

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      • Many of you will not remember Denilson but he was a terrible signing for FC Dallas. When the news broke that we were signing Denilson, the #10 so nice they numbered him twice ~#20, I thought that Carlos Ruiz and “the hoops” would be championship contenders. What we got was a washed up, disrespectful, Brazilian playboy bum.

        Color me jaded

      • I second Lothar. I’ll never forget him appearing in the news hanging out on the beach in St. Tropez with his girlfriend in the middle of the season when he was supposed to be rehabbing an injury.

    • Tough to compare Lampard and Marquez. On the one hand, Marquez occasionally played in between rehabbing fake injuries in Mexico. On the other hand, he was so terrible that RBNY wished he hadn’t played. And of course he purposely got himself sent off/suspended in the playoffs two years in a row.

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    • People forget in the early years there were people who came here essentially on paid vacation, did not care at all, did not play well at all. Matthaus comes to mind. Lampard and Marquez are merely disappointing and did produce some. Lampard had 3 goals last season.

      Reply

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