The former Chelsea and Everton boss has a huge task ahead at the Championship club, but could well rise to the challenge
After 18 months in the wilderness, Frank Lampard has returned to management at Coventry City, who currently sit 17th in the Championship table – two points above the drop zone. After an exhaustive hiring process spanning almost a month, Lampard has been chosen to succeed Mark Robins, seeing off reported competition from England Under-21s boss Lee Carsley and Wycombe's Matt Bloomfield.
Robins was the longest-serving manager in the Football League at the time of his dismissal, having been with the Sky Blues for seven years, and the decision to let him go did not go down well with supporters. Many felt that he deserved more loyalty after overseeing two promotions, a thrilling run to the FA Cup semi-finals, and taking the club to within one game of the Premier League, only to suffer play-off final heartbreak against Luton Town in 2023.
And the critics are now out in force again to protest Lampard's appointment, despite Coventry owner Doug King insisting the 46-year-old "knows what is needed in this league to be successful". Will Lampard be able to prove King right and silence the doubters, or has he bitten off more than he can chew?
GettyRooney warning ignored
When Lampard initially emerged as the frontrunner to replace Robins, a large section of fans on social media all made a similar point. An account named @eyesareopen78 wrote on X: "Frank Lampard is on a hiding to nothing at #coventryFC, exactly the same as [Wayne] Rooney at Birmingham, it’s a vanity appointment."
Meanwhile, the official X handle for Football League news website 'The72' said: "Coventry potentially replacing Robins with Lampard feels all too similar to Birmingham getting rid of [John] Eustace to bring Rooney in… doesn’t feel like the right appointment or an upgrade on Robins."
Even Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, who played alongside Lampard for England, sounded an ominous warning. "I was talking to my son about this. It reminds me of when Wayne went to Birmingham," Carragher said on the 'Stick to Football' podcast, sponsored by . "When you go in as a manager and everybody's there saying, 'That manager should have never lost his job' and if people are saying that about Mark Robins, you're on the back foot straight away. It would be, 'Mark Robins got us to the FA Cup semi-final last year'. I just think stay out of that one."
Birmingham were sat in the play-off places when NFL legend Tom Brady and the rest of the board at St. Andrews decided to sack Eustace and bring in Rooney back in October 23. It was a bold move that backfired spectacularly as Rooney lasted just three months in the role, managing only two wins from 15 Championship games at the helm, with the Blues eventually suffering relegation to League One.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportMixed record at best
It's fair to say that Coventry have indeed risked a similar humiliation by turning to Lampard, who started his coaching career in the Championship at Derby County in 2018. The Rams reached the play-off final in Lampard's debut year, but were beaten by Aston Villa, and the general consensus was that he had underachieved with a very talented squad.
Still, Lampard was then handed his dream job at Chelsea. He guided the Blues to a top-four finish in his first season, and received praise for bringing through academy stars like Mason Mount and Reece James. But the former midfielder struggled to build on that platform.
Lampard's 18-month reign at Stamford Bridge eventually came to an end in January 2021, as he paid the ultimate price for Chelsea dropping to ninth in the Premier League table. To make matters worse, Thomas Tuchel was swiftly drafted in and completely revived the Blues' fortunes, leading them to Champions League glory.
A lack of experience led to Lampard's downfall at Chelsea, and it did so again in his next role, as he plunged himself into a relegation battle at Everton the following year, and although he managed to narrowly keep the Toffees up in 2021-22, notably overseeing a remarkable comeback win over Crystal Palace in May, his tenure would end in disaster.
Everton dismissed Lampard in January 2023 after the team had fallen to second-bottom of the table with just 15 points from 20 games. Lampard left Goodison Park with a terrible win percentage of just 27.27% – the second-worst record of any manager in Everton's history. And yet somehow, he landed on his feet again.
Lampard returned to Chelsea as interim manager that April after the departure of Graham Potter as he was tasked with steadying the ship after a shambolic campaign for the Blues, but could only deliver one win in 11 games across all competitions, Unsurprisingly, he was not asked to stick around permanently.
Getty'Can get Coventry rolling'
Lampard's track record doesn't make for great reading. However, it's not quite as damning as Rooney's, who also started reasonably well at Derby before major failures at D.C. United and Birmingham. The former Manchester United and England striker is now desperately trying to rebuild his reputation at Plymouth Argyle, but seems to be fighting a losing battle at a club with very limited resources.
The situation is not so bleak for Lampard. He's inheriting a Coventry squad with plenty of strength in depth, and if the players buy into his philosophy straight away, it's entirely possible that the Sky Blues can not only pull clear of danger, but launch another genuine promotion bid.
"I think he can get Coventry rolling," ex-Arsenal and England midfielder Paul Merson said on when reacting to Lampard's arrival in the West Midlands. "I think they're in a false position at the moment, and if they can get on a run, who knows? They could get in the play-offs. There's a long way to go in this Championship, and I like the appointment. I'm really pleased for him and I hope he does well. He's a good man."
AFP'Perfect manager'
Lampard also excels when it comes to man-management. He hasn't sought to command respect in the dressing room purely based on his status as one of England's finest-ever players, but rather by building relationships organically and creating an environment that encourages open communication.
“You know what, I’ve said it to so many people, I couldn’t ask for a better manager" former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham said of Lampard in 2020. "He believes in every youngster, tells you where you’ve gone wrong, tells you what you need to do, and for me he is the perfect manager.” Conor Coady, meanwhile, said after linking up with Lampard at Goodison Park: "I play under a fantastic manager at Everton. He's good with the staff and players and he's absolutely brilliant."
Lampard is an affable, progressive coach with a deep knowledge of the game. He has already vowed to shake things up tactically at Coventry, which will worry his detractors, but that might be exactly what the team needs after such a poor start to the season.
"I want to bring an exciting attacking team for [fans] to see, a possession-based team that also wants to attack quickly at times," Lampard said in his first interview with Coventry's official website. "But of course we want to be an aggressive team as well that wants to win the ball high up the pitch.
"There’s some things that we will want to move forward with and [some] that will maybe change, and understanding that in that process we will have to get a lot of work in to get the results we want. But I’m certainly very ready to put that work in and pass the message into the players, and hopefully that will show through on the pitch.”