When Frank Lampard called time on his England career last week it barely caused a ripple of acknowledgment.

A few journalists wrote colour pieces about him and the odd retired player tweeted their appreciation. One or two them almost managed to use the whole 140 characters, in fact.

But by and large there was nothing like the wave of sickly sweet sentimentality that greeted Steven Gerrard’s announcement that he was hanging up his international boots a few weeks ago.

You could put this down to the fact that Lampard’s departure was all but inevitable. At 35, without regular first team football and at a time when Roy Hodgson needs to look to the future, he was very unlikely to be called up for his country anyway.

But more than that I think the lack of public remorse at his retirement is because, while Lampard was undoubtedly part of the so-called ‘golden generation’, it often felt like he was regarded as the runt of the midfield litter.

I’m not saying he wasn’t seen as a valuable member of the squad because he was – winning more than 100 caps is testament to the fact that he was never far away from the starting eleven.

But there was always a sense around Lampard that he was more quality back-up than first team regular for England. A player to turn to when injury or suspension ruled out somebody else, rather than the first name on the team sheet.

When push came to shove and one midfielder needed to be sacrificed, it would often be Lampard sat warming the bench, rarely David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gerrard or one of the others.

Who knows, maybe that is one of the reasons why the golden generation failed so miserably? Would things have been different if Lampard had been a pivotal player rather than a peripheral one?

It is, of course, impossible to say for certain even with the benefit of hindsight. What’s done is done.

But the more I think about it the more I think England may have missed a trick with Lampard. Midfielders with his scoring record, passing range, tackling ability and shooting skills don’t come along that often.

If you look at what he achieved with Chelsea – in terms of trophies, appearances and goals – then it is quite obvious he was a very special player. He left Stamford Bridge as the club’s all-time leading scorer despite not being a striker.

Midfielders with his scoring record, passing range, tackling ability and shooting skills don’t come along that often

Unlike the rest of the golden generation, I don’t think he was given enough of the right opportunities to reproduce that form for his country.

Now he’s gone, we may finally realise what we’re missing.

You only lose twice

Failing to qualify for the Champions League must be hugely depressing for a football club. To do it twice in the space of a couple of weeks is just silly.

Celtic were originally knocked out of Europe’s premier competition at the first qualifying round stage, losing 6-1 on aggregate.

But they were reinstated after Legia Warsaw were found to have fielded an ineligible player in a pathetic display of ‘by the book’ administration by Uefa.

Grasping their second chance by the scruff of the neck they moved into the second qualifying round and managed a 1-1 away draw with Maribor.

But last week they lost the home leg 1-0 and exited the Champions League for the second time this season.

I’ve got nothing against Celtic whatsoever, but I can’t help but feel a small element of justice has been served here.

It’s obviously of no major comfort to Legia Warsaw, but can you imagine how frustrating it would have been for them to watch Celtic in the lucrative group stages?

Now they will only have to watch the Scottish team take part in the Europa League. And that won’t hurt nearly as much. If at all.

Neil meet again

The Premier League got that little bit more interesting last week when good old Neil Warnock returned as boss of Crystal Palace.

There is no doubting that the former Queens Park Rangers manager is not everyone’s cup of tea.

But equally there can be no denying that his straight-talking, take-no-prisoners approach to management can be hugely entertaining.

Whether or not Warnock will be a success on his return to Selhurst Park is another question.

We may be only a few games into the season but things already look dodgy for a team that is seemingly still in shock at Tony Pulis’ departure.

And Warnock, while undoubtedly one of the best lower league managers in English football, has not really had a great deal of success in the top flight. He’s great at getting teams up, but when it comes to keeping them there, his skills don’t seem to work.

Maybe this is the season he will finally break his relegation jinx.

Either way it will be fun watching him trying to smash the world record for the most amount of swear words crammed into a 90-minute period. Every week from now until May.

Tough at the top

At first glance, Liverpool drawing Real Madrid in their Champions League group sounded quite nasty.

But after a little contemplation, I think it is actually a good thing.

Their relatively young team will only gain from the experience of playing the reigning champions and it will provide a good benchmark for how far Brendan Rodgers team has come.

And as the rest of Group B is pretty weak, they will still have a pretty decent chance of going through even if they do come unstuck against Cristiano Ronaldo and pals.

Arsenal and Chelsea, meanwhile, should be relatively happy with their respective groups.

Barring any unforeseen circumstance I would expect both teams to make light work of progressing to the knockout stage.

Manchester City, on the other hand, are facing a somewhat trickier proposition. Drawing Bayern Munich yet again was cruel in itself, but when you add Roma and CSKA Moscow to the mix, it starts to look a bit daunting.

Then again, if City ever want to establish themselves as a European force, they are going to have to look at a group like that with the belief that they can walk their way out of it.

Spirit of the game

As the first meeting between Sheffield United and West Ham United since ‘Tevezgate’ in 2007, last week’s Capital One cup match was always likely to be heated.

On the one hand, the Blades believe the Hammers cheated them out of their Premiership status, while on the other hand the Hammers feel the Blades conned them out of £20 million in compensation.

Essentially there is no love lost between the two sets of fans and that was evident from the word go last Tuesday, with one group singing Carlos Tevez’s name and the other accusing their opponents of being cheats.

The cheeky Tevez masks worn by some home supporters only added to the electric atmosphere.

Ultimately Sheffield United triumphed on penalties and that obviously brought plenty of joy to their fans, none more so than me.

However, the thing that really impressed me was that, despite all the rivalry and the intensity of the occasion, the game passed without anything remotely approaching an unsavoury incident.

It’s not so long ago that a grudge match like this, involving clubs that both have rough elements among their supporters, would have been a magnet for hooliganism. We would have spent the following morning reading about running battles in the street and numerous arrests.

But any festering resentment, from either side, only came through in good-natured singing and chanting.

And that is testament to how far English football has come over the past 30 years or so.

Oh, and the Blades won.

Did I mention that?

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade