Lampard Sent to Coventry: Can Frank Resurrect His Managerial Career?

On 28th November, 2024, Frank Lampard was appointed head coach of Coventry City, who currently ply their trade in the Championship. The Chelsea legend (as a player, if not a manager!) is tasked with guiding the Sky Blues to second-tier survival. Can Lampard achieve that initial aim and – in the process – rehabilitate his managerial reputation?

In this article, we’ll take a look back at Lampard’s managerial career to date, which has seen him take charge of Derby County, Chelsea, Everton and, finally, an ill-fated caretaker stint at Chelsea. We’ll then look at Lampard’s prospects for turning things around at struggling Coventry and whether the former England man might move on to bigger and better things in the future.

Lampard’s Managerial Stats – July 2024 to Present

To say Lampard has achieved mixed results as a manager is probably being generous. His first stint as Chelsea boss wasn’t appalling – his win percentage puts him between Mauricio Pochettino (50.98%) and Gianluca Vialli (53.15%) when compared to previous Blues bosses. It also puts him ahead of the likes of Ruud Gullit, Andre Villas-Boas and Guus Hiddink’s second spell. But he didn’t win anything. The closest he came was losing in the 2019/20 FA Cup final to Arsenal. The less said about Lampard’s second spell at the club, the better!

His time at Derby wasn’t too bad, as the Rams made the play-offs after finishing in sixth position. Indeed, they weren’t far away from gaining promotion to the Premier League and ended up losing 2-1 to Aston Villa in the play-off final. At Everton, however, things started badly and never really improved. At least he didn’t get the Toffees relegated, but they didn’t survive by much (four points in the 2021/22 season).

Can Lampard Turn Things Around at Coventry?

He’s back in the game! ⚽

Frank Lampard has been confirmed as the new head coach at Coventry City 🤝 pic.twitter.com/wX5FTXy3zR

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 28, 2024

It remains to be seen whether Lampard has what it takes to achieve success at Coventry. In the short to medium term, success would mean simply steadying the ship (after just four league wins from 17 games) and then kicking on to achieve safety by the earliest possible date. Lamps clearly backs himself to do well or he wouldn’t have bothered going for the job in the first place. His experience – and relative success – with Derby in the Championship is likely to stand him in reasonable stead, and his calm demeanour and years of playing at the highest level is sure to earn the respect of the Coventry players.

When he took on the caretaker role at Chelsea in April 2023, the club was in a mess and although he didn’t do well, we think a lot of the players were not pulling their weight and should shoulder some responsibility. Overall, we think Lampard will certainly have enough about him to get Coventry moving in the right direction and we predict they’ll be safe with plenty of games to spare.

Where Next for Frank After Coventry?

Lampard’s focus will be well and truly on his new role at Coventry, at least for the rest of the current season. What happens after that in relation to his managerial career will depend on how results go on the pitch and whether or not he turns things around and avoids the drop. Here are three possible scenarios that could play out over the coming months:

1. Disaster Strike: Punditry Beckons

Football is a funny old game, unless your side keeps losing. If things go badly for Lampard at Coventry and the club gets relegated, it’s feasible that it could be curtains for him as a manager (at least in England… there’s always Saudi!). If Coventry finish lower in the table than the position they occupied when Lampard started as head coach (17th), even if they avoid the drop, the former Chelsea man might well get the boot. If the club go down, he almost certainly will.

With 24 sides in the Championship, there’s still a little wriggle room, even if the Sky Blues are only two points above the drop zone at the time of writing. What if Lampard turns things around and gets the side moving up the table?

2. Play-Off Secured, Reputation in Tact… Go Again

Although Coventry are at the wrong end of the table as things stand, they are only 10 points below the play-offs. That’s quite a big 10 points given the quality of the sides above them, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Lampard puts a decent run together and his team finishes in the top half of the table or even sneaks into the play-offs come May.

Given that he’s on a two-and-a-half-year deal with the club, a top-half finish would certainly mean he’s accomplished his initial mission and he’d be likely to remain in place to try to build on that progress during the 2025/26 campaign. But then, what if he performs well, exorcises certain managerial demons and attracts the attention of a bigger side?

3. Smashes It at Cov… Up, Up and Away!

The third scenario is arguably the least likely (based on his recent managerial achievements). But what if Lampard hardly puts a foot wrong in his new role, gets Coventry into the play-offs and perhaps even all the way the Premier League? In that case, it’s very likely a Premier League club with a little more spending power could swoop in for Lamps… and he would be very tempted to jump ship at that point. But which clubs might be a decent fit (assuming he’s proven his worth in the second tier)?

We think a medium-to-large outfit – rather than one of the true big boys – might be a decent fit for the next step. Certainly a return to Chelsea would not be on the cards, but how about one of his other former clubs: West Ham United? It would tick plenty of boxes for him in terms of location, history and the emotional attachment he may still have to the Hammers. And – at least as things stand – they are not exactly flying with their current manager, Julen Lopetegui. There’s a long way for Lampard to go before all that though and – for now at least – his primary concern is ensuring Coventry remain in the Championship.