Lerda had been the manager of a few clubs in lower divisions. In June 2010, he became manager of
Torino. On 9 March 2011, he was sacked by the Torino board and replaced by
Giuseppe Papadopulo. However, eleven days later Papadopulo was sacked and Lerda was reinstated as manager. On 29 May 2011, he was once again sacked following the club's failure to secure a spot in the
Serie A-playoffs. In June 2012, he became new manager of
Lecce. On 21 January 2013, he was sacked following a 3–1 defeat against
San Marino despite the team being in 2nd place in the
Lega Pro Prima Divisione. He was reinstated as Lecce head coach on 24 September 2013, after the dismissal of
Francesco Moriero. He was sacked on 27 December 2014 and replaced by
Dino Pagliari. On 15 March 2016, he became new manager of
Serie B side
Vicenza. He was dismissed in October 2016. On 26 March 2018, he returned to
Vicenza, this time in the
Serie C. On 17 June 2019, he became the new manager of
Albanian club
Partizani. He was sacked on 15 December 2019 following two consecutive defeats. On 7 December 2021, he was hired by
Pro Vercelli in
Serie C. He left the club on 25 May 2022 by mutual consent, after completing the season in seventh place and being successively eliminated by
Juventus U23 in the second round of the promotion playoffs. On 30 May 2022,
Crotone announced to have hired Lerda, who had already coached the Calabrians during the 2009–10 season, as their new head coach on a one-year deal, following the club's relegation to Serie C. He was dismissed on 13 February 2023, leaving Crotone in second place in the league table. On 19 October 2023, Lerda was named new head coach of Serie C club
Potenza. His experience at Potenza however turned out to be short-lived, as he was dismissed on 7 December 2023 following a home loss to
Taranto. ==Honours==