Let's stub out Bilic fire: Frank Lampard plans to ambush his old pal Slaven

When Frank Lampard made his West Ham debut, there was Slaven Bilic, having a crafty cigarette before kick-off and generally oozing charisma.

When England hit their lowest ebb in years, he was there again, bouncing around the Wembley touchline in his suit and beanie hat.

Lighting up: Slaven Bilic has proved a highly popular coach among the Croatian players

Now he is back, scheduled to breeze through Heathrow at lunchtime today (Tuesday) carrying plans to derail Fabio Capello side's faultless procession to the World Cup finals.

Lampard chuckles when popular, guitar-playing charmer Bilic is billed as some kind of evil saboteur. But, since the last World Cup in Germany, the Croatia boss has been an eye-witness to England's fall and rise.

From the embarrassment of the Maksimir Stadium in 2006 to the rain-soaked agony of Wembley 2007 and last year's revenge in Zagreb, inspired by Theo Walcott.

'The thing I remember about Slaven from West Ham was the size of his personality,' said Lampard, the only one of tomorrow's likely England team to have played in all three previous matches against Bilic's Croatia.

'To come from abroad and make the impression he did, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, shows his intelligence.

Bad memories: Frank Lampard was part of the England team that lost to Bilic's Croatia on that fateful night at Wembley two years ago

'He'd have a few fags before games. He was a smoker at the time, a couple of other players did as well, but it didn't affect his performance when he played. He was a cult hero, a nice fella and a top player.'

Bilic spent just 18 months at West Ham before moving to Everton but took Lampard and Rio Ferdinand under his wing as they broke into the first team.

'I can see players would like to work with him,' Lampard said. 'Whenever I hear him speak, he talks about his close relationship with his players, as if they are family. It's important for the modern-day manager to have that relationship. The players then give you that bit extra.'

Bilic, 41, is an Anglophile who loved his time in the Barclays Premier League and hopes to return to manage in it one day, but that will not stop him making mischief ahead of tomorrow's qualifier at Wembley, when a win would secure England's place in the World Cup finals.

But he has a dark side too. After Croatia squeezed past Belarus with a win on Saturday, he accused England of losing their fighting spirit under Capello and suggested England skipper John Terry should look at his Chelsea team-mates rather than lecture Croatia striker Eduardo on diving.

This is the same Bilic who exaggerated the tiniest contact of a head-butt from Laurent Blanc in a World Cup semi-final to get the France defender sent off and banned from the 1998 final in Paris.

'It might be reverse psychology,' said Lampard as he digested Bilic's comments on spirit. 'He's very intelligent, almost in the way Jose Mourinho was as a manager at Chelsea, always thinking one step ahead and thinking of any little edge he can get on the other team.

'It's just a few words before the game, maybe to fire up his team. That's good management. The important thing for us is not to get sucked in by it.'

Happy memories: Lampard has a laugh while recalling his days together with Bilic at West Ham

England should be flattered if they have minimised their reliance on their bulldog spirit. Pride, passion and an English manager did not help much two years ago, when Croatia stopped Steve McClaren's team qualifying for Euro 2008.

'That was a low point in all our careers and England's recent football history,' admits Lampard, who is close to a decade of service for his country. 'There was a team of good individuals but low confidence.'

Lampard stepped forward that night to score his first penalty for his country since missing in the World Cup quarter-final shootout against Portugal. It eased some of the ferocious criticism he suffered from England fans but was ultimately forgotten as Croatia won 3-2.

'They knocked us out of the Euros and we all felt that as a nation,' said the Chelsea midfielder, on target again from the spot against Slovenia on Saturday to make it four goals in six games for his country. 'But you'd be a fool not to see the progress we've made since.

'I've never known the team so confident going into games, wanting to win them and waiting for the next game. We're not lacking spirit and we're calmer these days as well. That can only be a positive thing.'

Seven wins from seven qualifiers equals soaring morale but Capello let his players know he was far from impressed after they beat Slovenia.

'He wasn't totally happy. I don't think he ever is,' said Lampard. 'You can see he's a perfectionist by the way he works and that's why he's had the success he's had. If we make a fantastic performance, there will be a video a few days later showing certain aspects where we could have been better.

'We all understand when we've made mistakes but this isn't a time to pick on individuals. We know what the manager is like and he's not going to accept it.'