At Derby County, Frank Lampard would have been lauded by his Championship players.
hey would have been in awe of his achievements in the game, given him great respect and overlooked the odd mistake as manager.
At Chelsea, a club where Lampard is a legend following an illustrious playing career, it's crazy to think his reputation counted for little. As far as the senior players were concerned, he hadn't achieved anything as a manager.
Shocking as it may sound, that's the ruthless nature of the Premier League.
There is no time to grow into the job and implement the ideas you had as a player.
The vast majority of players in the top flight are totally self-absorbed. I suppose it's this nature which helps them reach the Premier League - an incredible self-belief.
Having played in three out of the four divisions in England, I can tell you that when you reach the Premier League, there is a massive difference in how players treat their manager. The players have so much power and control - it really takes a strong manager to keep on top of things.
If things aren't going well for the team or if a player feels they have been unfairly treated then resentment sinks in and players would be asking, 'What have you achieved as a coach to earn my respect?'
The mindset in the Premier League is different. Players are constantly challenging authority and questioning the ability of a coach, and if things don't go their way they are demanding to know why. If a high-profile player is left out, the guy wants a full-scale investigation into the matter.
Earlier this season, Lampard had to deal with Marcos Alonso storming out and onto the team bus at half-time after being substituted against Arsenal. An early sign Lampard had already lost the dressing room. Where was the team togetherness?
Agents are in their player's ears and for new young managers, it must be a nightmare when that is coupled with the pressure of producing consistently positive results.
I thought Lampard did very well in bringing through the young players at Chelsea, especially when he had to deal with the transfer ban.
It was the senior players and those who he brought in for big money who let him down.
It was no surprise to see him go at Chelsea, but I do believe he deserved more time to make them a force, turn around the dressing room and allow his big-money transfers space to bed in.
However, not for the first time, player power proved decisive in a big managerial decision in the Premier League.
It will be interesting to see how Thomas Tuchel is treated because already there is the argument that a manager's status cannot be judged on success at Paris St Germain with huge amounts of money being pumped into the club and the French League hardly the strongest in European football.
He'll need to put down a marker straight away and not allow the Chelsea players to rule the roost.
In club football, the manager I really respected was Roy Hodgson when I was at West Brom.
Roy Keane was good too, he was my boss at Ipswich, but was probably the opposite of Lampard. Keane's main problem in terms of getting a solid team performance was that I felt some of my team-mates were intimidated by his presence as manager and as a result they under-performed.
Keane was held in high regard because of his achievements as a player and he pushed the players hard each and every day, however a lot of them just crumbled under the pressure of playing for him. They really looked up to him, didn't want to let him down but instead of that being a motivating factor, Keane actually had the opposite effect.
With Hodgson, I had so much respect for him and so did all my team-mates because of his tremendous knowledge, expertise and experience at club and international level. Before returning to these shores, he'd managed the Swiss and Finnish national teams, along with Inter Milan.
He has a great man-management style and because he can speak about four or five languages a lot of players loved the fact he could talk to them in their native tongue. That honestly made a big difference, but it was also his coaching techniques and style which everyone bought into.
If players don't respect you in the Premier League, your days are sadly numbered.
Alan Pardew found that out at West Brom during my time there and Lampard has now experienced the same thing at Chelsea.
Lampard, in my view, should have been treated better and that is on the Chelsea players.
Roy is a real 'roll model
When I first read about Roy Carroll making a comeback at 43 for Dungannon Swifts, I had a wry smile to myself and thought, 'You are putting me to shame'.
Good for you, Roy, because I'm two years younger. But honestly, I couldn't think of anything worse at this time. I've had teams around me who play at a decent level down the football pyramid in England ask me to turn out for them.
I've watched games on TV and it's crossed my mind that I could still play and offer something, but then I'm quickly reminded of why I retired - the body had enough - and so the answer is always no.
I'm too engrossed in getting my coaching qualifications, doing all the practical stuff and course work, and it's this side of the game which excites me now.
I have a structure and routine in my life and I think that is important, especially when you give up something you have been dedicated to for over 20 years.
With Covid-19, so much has been put on hold, including Roy's coaching clinics and everything he wanted to do after hanging up his gloves.
Roy has worked hard to return from a knee injury which forced him to leave Linfield and I know how much passion he still has for playing the game, but also a desire to pass on words of advice to the young goalkeepers.
I think it is fantastic he has decided to return. He'll be giving it his all and it will not surprise me at all to see him playing in the Irish Premiership at 43 years of age. Then again, goalkeepers don't have to do any running so they are able to play on a little longer!
Well, that's my excuse anyway.
Watch and learn from two of NI's best
If any young footballers from here have aspirations of playing in the Premier League, then tune into today's top-flight match between Leicester and Leeds United.
On view will be Jonny Evans (Leicester) and Stuart Dallas (Leeds), two Northern Ireland-born players who have maximised their talents through dedication and sacrifice to achieve their goal of playing at what I believe is the highest level in club football.
Jonny and Stuarty are both inspirational, having taken entirely different routes to play Premier League football.
They'll be looking forward to coming up against each other, determined to come out on top.
I've played against quite a few international team-mates down the years: Steven Davis when he was at Southampton, Craig Cathcart at Watford and Aaron Hughes and Chris Baird during their Fulham days. But because we weren't really going up against each other, it was just another game and my mates happened to be on the other team.
However, the only friend and Northern Ireland team-mate I did go up against directly was David Healy when he was at Leeds and I was playing for Leicester.
I've known Dave since we were nine-year-old kids playing for Lisburn Youth and so there was no way I was going to let him get the better of me, never mind score a goal. I was probably overly-physical during the game but I knew how good Dave could be, so it was my way of restricting his movement. It worked!
