'I played with Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard but could only see one as a manager'

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Ben Foster always believed Frank Lampard would become a decent manager, but didn't share the same vision for Steven Gerrard . The retired goalkeeper, who spent more than 20 years playing across various leagues in England, brushed shoulders with some famous faces on his way to the top.

Foster earned eight caps for England during his career and it was during this time that he shared a dressing room with the two iconic midfielders. In the latest episode of The Managers , Mick McCarthy and Tony Pulis chatted with the shotstopper and asked his opinion on some of his former teammates.

When Pulis asked which colleague impressed him enough to give off managerial qualities, Foster paused before he said: "I don't know, I'm just trying to think if there's any that actually went on to be like fully-fledged managers of that sort of team.

"Obviously, Frank Lampard was in the team at that time as well. You could always see he was a very clever guy. Like really, even when he spoke, he was he sort of held the room a little bit. Do you know what I mean? And I think that's a big skill to have."

Speaking on the difficulties of being at the helm, Foster added: "Management's so hard. Just certain clubs fit sometimes, don't they?

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"They fit and that's it. And then you find your groove and that your confidence gets higher, your reputation gets higher and you go off from there. Really just need a springboard sometimes, don't you? Yeah, you could see it with Frank."

When Gerrard's name came up, the ex-Manchester United star was quick to admit he didn't see a pathway to management for the legendary Liverpool midfielder. Foster said: "I wouldn't have ever thought that maybe he would have gone into management.

"Yeah, I never thought he'd go into management. You could always see he was [obsessed] but they were all football obsessed, though at the same time so maybe you could [see it]. I've grown up with players who couldn't really be bothered to watch the telly, if there's a game on, it's just like [oh well], but you get other players that when there's a game on, they're not even talking to you.

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"They're not looking at the phone, they're actually looking at the [TV] and they're analysing the game of what's actually going on."

While Gerrard found his biggest success in Scotland at Rangers, the former Red also had stints at Aston Villa and Al-Ettifaq. He is currently not managing a club, while Lampard has found his footing with Coventry City.

The ex-Chelsea midfielder started his managerial career at Derby County before returning to take charge of the Blues in 2019. After a stint at Everton and a caretaker position back at Stamford Bridge, Lampard finally settled in Coventry in 2024 and has brought the Sky Blues on leaps and bounds since.