Former Premier League duo Frank Lampard and Dean Smith are finalists for the vacant Charlotte FC managerial position. The Major League Soccer side recently parted ways with head coach Christian Lattanzio and his assistant Andy Quy. The decision was made just a few weeks after Charlotte’s 2023 season was officially completed.

According to The Athletic, Charlotte is deep into the head coach hiring process. Lampard and Smith are both among the finalists for the role. It has not been revealed which other managers are currently in contention for the position. The club does, however, want to make a final decision at some point this month. Charlotte, like other MLS sides, will start preseason training in January.

Coaches do not have high win rates in recent England jobs

Lampard is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders to ever play in the Premier League. The former Chelsea star played over 600 total matches with the Blues and helped the west London club win significant silverware. This includes three Premier League titles, four FA Cup trophies, and even a Champions League triumph in 2012.

While Lampard was an exceptional player, his head coaching record is not exactly stellar so far. After a fairly solid first job with Derby County, Lampard was hired to manage Chelsea in 2019. The former midfielder posted a 52% win rate in 18 months at the helm. However, he could not lead the Blues to a trophy during this timeframe.

After departing Chelsea, Lampard quickly signed on with Everton. The Toffees barely avoided relegation during the 2021/22 campaign and club brass fired their coach after being in a similar situation a year later. Lampard rejoined Chelsea on a temporary basis back in April but only managed to win one of 11 total games in charge.

Dean Smith, like Lampard, limped to the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, as Leicester went down to the Championship.
Dean Smith, like Lampard, limped to the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, as Leicester went down to the Championship.

Smith is perhaps most notably known for his time with Aston Villa. The coach guided the club back to the Premier League through the promotion playoffs in 2019. He then helped Villa remain an English top-flight mainstay in the subsequent seasons.

After departing the Birmingham-based team, Smith then had less successful spells at Norwich and Leicester. Both clubs were relegated with the English manager at the helm. Both managers have been without a coaching job since getting sacked earlier this summer.

Charlotte FC looks at Lampard or Smith as third coach in third season

Charlotte was only just founded in 2019 and played their inaugural MLS season in 2022. Even though the club has only been in two top-flight campaigns, they have already sacked two managers. Miguel Ángel Ramírez was hired as the first manager in the team’s MLS history in 2021. However, the former Internacional coach was sacked after just 14 matches. Lattanzio was then hired in his place in May of 2022.

While Charlotte qualified for the playoffs for the first time, Lattanzio was sacked earlier in November. The club grabbed the final playoff place during the current campaign, but was knocked out in the wild card round by New York Red Bulls. The Red Bulls jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the game before finally finishing off Charlotte 5-2.

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