Abdoulaye Doucoure slams Frank Lampard for 'disrespect' after first team banishment – as star claims ill-fated Everton spell was a 'big lesson'

Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure has hit out at former manager Frank Lampard for ‘disrespecting’ him while he was in charge of the club.

Lampard had been appointed as Everton boss in January 2022 and guided the Toffees to Premier League safety.

The former England and Chelsea star was sacked eight days shy of his one-year anniversary in charge in January 2023, with the club in the relegation zone.

Lampard had taken charge of 44 matches before his dismissal, with Doucoure featuring on in 28, starting 18 times and missing five through injury.

Speaking on The Overlap Breakdown Podcast, Doucoure claimed he had endured his ‘worst experience with a manager’ under Lampard.

Doucoure said his relationship with Lampard had been ‘really good’ after starting almost every game for the first six months of his tenue, but fell out of favour at the start of the following season.

Doucoure slammed Lampard’s communication and claimed the job was a ‘big lesson’ for him 

Lampard was sacked as Everton boss in January 2023 with the club in the bottom three

‘I think he made a mistake with me to be honest, I am a hard working guy and a humble person, I work hard in training – obviously he can make a choice, I never contest the choice a manager makes.

‘Sometimes you have to be fair and I don’t think he was fair with me, leaving me on the bench for so many games and not giving me my chance, it just upset me with him’.

Doucoure claimed there had been ‘no communication’ with Lampard and claimed Everton had been a ‘big lesson’ for him as a manager.

The midfielder confirmed reports he had been banished from Lampard’s first team squad following a ‘big argument’ following a 2-1 loss to relegation rivals Southampton in January 2023 having remained on the bench.

‘After a home game, we had a big argument between me and him, I was not happy and I told him the truth because I am honest and he didn’t like it,’ Doucoure said.

‘The day after they said you cannot stay with the team, he said he felt disrespected by me in front of the other players, and said you need to train with the Under-21s or train alone.

‘I said “I am going to train alone” because I know how to look after myself, luckily it was not long because I think he was sacked a week after.’

Doucoure was left out of Lampard’s squad for a 2-0 defeat against West Ham, which ultimately proved his final match in charge.

Doucoure was banished from the first team under Lampard but returned under Sean Dyche

Doucoure scored a stunning goal on the final day to help preserve Everton’s top flight status

The Mali international was recalled for Sean Dyche’s first match in charge, a shock 1-0 victory over Arsenal.

He would go on to be a fixture in Dyche’s side and scored five goals in the remainder of the season, including a winning goal on the final day against Bournemouth to secure their survival.

Lampard returned to management with an ill-fated spell at caretaker boss at Chelsea in April that season.

He was appointed as Coventry City boss in November and has overseen eight wins in 16 matches to date, with the club closing to four points of the Championship promotion places.