Frank Lampard is putting Coventry City back on the map and showing he was underrated all along

Frank Lampard is approaching the end of his first year as the manager of Coventry City. He succeeded the popular Mark Robins with the Sky Blues in a rut and what he’s achieved in 11 months is impressive to say the last.

Analysis of Coventry’s partial first season with Lampard at the helm was a matter of piecing together shards of evidence – a good run of form here, an injury setback there, wise words throughout and, ultimately, heartbreak in the play-offs.

There’s no need for such molecular assessment in 2025/26 so far. The Sky Blues are flying and are the only team in the top four divisions yet to taste league defeat. It’s to Middlesbrough’s credit that they’re within three points of the leaders.

Frank Lampard has lots to offer as a manager and his appointment at Coventry City was a Doug King masterstroke

Lampard’s experience is well suited to the challenges ahead. He reached the play-off final as the Derby County manager in 2019, losing out to an Aston Villa team with unstoppable momentum and an outstanding Championship squad.

Last season was different. Coventry dragged themselves into the play-offs and fell short but shrugging off that disappointment to mount a genuine tilt at automatic promotion is a mark of their manager and the trust of his players.

There were eyebrows raised when the former England international was appointed. Rumoured interest in Ruud van Nistelrooy came to nothing and Coventry owner Doug King went all in on Lampard.

He acknowledged in his first press conference that there had been other interest since his 2023 spell in a temporary role at Chelsea. It was evident on that early evening in late November that King and Lampard were united. This was the right man for the right job.

The wider scepticism was unjustified. Lampard was 46 when he was appointed and had already navigated a wealth of challenges most young managers would shirk.

Lampard’s work at Derby, Chelsea and Everton was varied and he’s a better manager for each task he’s faced. Being a Chelsea legend and England centurion might have catapulted him into those early roles but he came out of each of them with some credit.

At least, he should have done if it weren't for the unhelpful spotlight emanating from his playing career.

Getting Derby to within a goal of the Premier League wasn’t easy. Keeping Chelsea rolling under the cloud of a transfer embargo wasn’t easy. Adapting a drifting Everton team to avoid relegation wasn’t easy.

Taking over from Robins wasn’t easy either and it’s those previous experiences that have given Lampard, who is ranked no.3 in FourFourTwo's list of the best English midfielders ever, the chops to make a success of a club slowly but surely priming itself for a positive future.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Lampard’s first five years as a manager were no choppier than most young managers. Indeed, his job selection and achievements along the way have set him up beautifully for phase two of his management career.

He’s bringing it all together at Coventry and they’re reaping the rewards.

Where two promotion pushes in the Championship burned out, another is mapped out with the benefit of insight.

Where Chelsea turmoil and a major test at Everton were overcome, stability at Coventry is appreciated more because of shared understanding of tough times.

Where the talents of players like Alex Iwobi, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz were perhaps better unlocked by Lampard than any manager before or since, so Jack Rudoni and Matt Grimes and Victor Torp have been having the time of their lives – and that’s just in midfield.

Crucially, Lampard called it on day one. The new Coventry boss had looked at his squad and liked what he’d seen.

He could work with this squad. He spoke about the depth of quality and balance left behind by Robins and now, less than a year on and with the incredibly astute addition of Grimes also on his managerial CV, Lampard walking the talk.