Frank Lampard's 'goal' for England against Germany was not given in 2010
Frank Lampard's 'goal' for England against Germany was not given in 2010
Newcastle United boss Matthias Jaissle admits that he will have to put his admiration to one side for ex-England ace Frank Lampard when he goes toe to toe with him on Monday night.
Jaissle watched on as a starry-eyed youngster at Hoffenheim when England faced Germany at the 2010 World Cup when Lampard's controversial strike - dubbed the "ghost goal" - was disallowed in the 4-1 defeat at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. It sparked a furious reaction and an apology from then FIFA chief Sepp Blatter.
But now Jaissle heads to Coventry, hoping to keep Newcastle's solid start to the season intact with Lampard looking for his first Premier League home win since promotion to the Premier League. Speaking about the big moment at that World Cup, Jaissle said: "I remember, I remember. It was probably luck for us that day
"And I saw many of his other goals! Frank is a pure legend to me still, and I think he shot so many brilliant goals during his career. Unfortunately, I never played against him. That's due to my missed qualities.
"But like I said, a pure legend, what he delivered as a player was unbelievable, and also for the national team. So someone you of course always looked up to as a player."
Frank Lampard's effort against Germany crossed the line but the goal was not given
Frank Lampard's effort against Germany crossed the line but the goal was not given(Image: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Any hero worship will have to be paused during a tough 90-odd minutes against the Sky Blues, though, under the lights at the Coventry Building Society Arena. One of the big aims of Jaissle this season is to improve on Newcastle's drastic away form last term when they won just four games from 19 matches and collected just 17 points away from home to cost them a place in Europe.
When asked about addressing away form, Jaissle said: "You always try to win as much as possible, home and away. But there are so many teams in the Premier League and everybody can beat anybody on their day.
"So it is a tough challenge which we must take step by step. We are now focused on Coventry, then Aston Villa next match and so on.
"Planning too far ahead in advance or trying to plan a winning streak does not make sense. You need to earn that. And that is really tough in the Premier League."
Coventry signed off for the international break with a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest last month and Jaissle had his scouts assessing their main threats at the City Ground. Despite their tag of being a newly promoted club, Jaissle is refusing to take them lightly and said: "Every team is capable to win against every opponent. Coventry have the quality.
"They won their last match, they have confidence after winning that game. They will have momentum.
"If we perform at our best, then it will be difficult to beat us. We want to make it as difficult for them as possible."
Jaissle is likely to welcome back Brazilian star Joelinton after two months out with a muscle injury while late checks on Dan Burn's ankle injury will also take place. But neither are expected to start the game against Coventry and will start on the bench against the Sky Blues.
Touching on Joelinton's return, Jaissle said: "He has qualities on the ball and out of possession. He is a leader - his body language shows that.
"We need warriors in the team. We are really happy to have him back training with us."