It was in the away dressing room at the Stadium of Light in May where the seeds were sown for Coventry City’s promotion push this season.
The Sky Blues had just been beaten by Sunderland in the Championship play-off semi-final in the cruellest of circumstances, after Dan Ballard headed home a 123rd-minute winner to send the hosts to Wembley.
‘It was a really tough moment,’ Lampard tells Daily Mail Sport seven months on, with his side now top of the Championship. ‘There wasn’t much to say afterwards because the dressing room was very despondent. I could see it (the pain) on everyone’s face. I let them be and we had a good break.’
Lampard, who took Coventry from 17th to fifth last season after being appointed in November 2024, sent a message on the team’s WhatsApp group urging his players to rest well and prepare for an intense pre-season. He also highlighted how their exploits over his first six months in charge would help them be better equipped this time around.
‘When we got together in pre-season there was a determination from the players to continue what we’ve done,’ Lampard adds. ‘After taking a hit like that, it provided us with even more motivation to go one better.
‘We wanted to be fitter, more clinical and have different ways to win games. It looks like we’ve used that moment as a good motivation. We took a hard hit and we’re trying to put that right.’
Frank Lampard is doing an incredible job at Coventry City, taking them from 17th to the top of the Championship in the space of a year
Lampard won the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month award for the second month in a row last week
The first act of 2025-26 has panned out superbly for Coventry. After 21 games, Lampard’s side have 14 wins and 47 points. They have been beaten just twice and the 52 goals they have scored is 16 more than the league’s second-highest scorers Hull City. Yet the Sky Blues have also kept the most clean sheets with eight – and they are 12 points clear of third-placed Preston.
‘I’m delighted with the start,’ says Lampard, whose league record for Coventry stands at 30 wins in 50 games, success that saw him awarded the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month award for November – after also winning the gong in October.
‘The Championship is notoriously difficult to get consistency in, so to have won a lot of games for two months on the bounce is great. We’re in a really good position – and we would have taken this at the start of the season – but there’s a lot of work to do.’
Lampard, whose appointment as Mark Robins’ replacement just over a year ago was met with scepticism in some quarters, had been satisfied by last season, but felt his side had a way to go to match the top teams in the division. The 47-year-old believes they have now bridged that gap.
‘It’s been great to see the progression of the lads,’ he adds. ‘They have a different confidence and belief in themselves. Tactically we’ve become more of a threat in terms of the goals we’re scoring and we’ve improved defensively. There are so many parts to our game.’
A rigorous pre-season was crucial in Lampard’s attempts to take Coventry to the next level. Although he made an immediate impact in 2024-25, the summer provided ample opportunity to develop his side.
A key element of this was fitness, helping Coventry to become more powerful and dynamic. He also feels his message is getting through to players more effectively, while he reflected on what had gone before to find other areas for progress.
This included becoming better in transition, more clinical and finding different ways to win games, something that has seen Coventry play a mix of formations, although 4-2-3-1 is their most-used set-up.
Lampard had to pick Coventry’s players up off the floor after their heartbreaking play-off defeat by Sunderland in May
But helped by the likes of Matt Grimes – the club captain who leads by example in midfield – he has made them an unstoppable force this season
As results have come, belief in the squad has only grown, contributing to a togetherness across the club. Coventry’s attendances at the CBS Arena have regularly topped 30,000 this season – and that loyalty has been rewarded with an unbeaten home record, including seven wins in a row.
Lampard is full of praise for the Sky Blues support and believes there has been a real shift in confidence at the stadium since his appointment. The team’s success has added to the growing connection between players and fans, which is regularly evidenced with the boss’ post-victory fist pumps.
Lampard similarly has a great relationship with chairman Doug King and head of recruitment Dean Austin. King is hands-on but forthright in his desire to reach the Premier League. He has improved Coventry’s training facilities and brought the CBS Arena under club control for the first time in August.
The importance of that move cannot be underestimated for a side that has been forced to play home games at other venues in three separate seasons since 2013. Coventry also hadn’t owned a stadium since they sold their old ground Highfield Road in 2005.
King is involved in transfer and contract negotiations and ensured the Sky Blues kept key players like Jack Rudoni and Milan van Ewijk in the summer.
But perhaps the greatest achievement of Lampard’s tenure is how he has developed the squad he inherited. There were just two new signings in January and four in the summer. Captain Matt Grimes – who leads by example from midfield – and Brighton loanee Carl Rushworth are the only additions to have become regular members of the starting XI.
Instead, Lampard has overseen significant improvements in several players, evidenced by Ellis Simms winning the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month award in November – after Brandon Thomas-Asante scooped up the gong in October.
Thomas-Asante is a prime example of Lampard’s impact. He has always been a solid Championship striker but had netted 22 times across three seasons at West Brom and Coventry prior to this one.
Lampard with striker Ellis Simms after the pair picked up league-wide awards for November
Lampard has improved several players, including Brandon Thomas-Asante (picture embracing the Coventry boss)
The Ghanaian forward has scored 10 goals in 15 starts and is well on course to blitzing his record tally of 11 in the Championship
The Ghanaian suffered a hamstring injury last month, but not before scoring 10 goals in 15 starts. Fitness permitting, he is well on his way to surpassing his most prolific campaign of 11 strikes with the Baggies in 2023-24.
‘Brandon had a few injury problems last year, but we could see there was a player there,’ says Lampard. ‘He came back with a great attitude and flew out the traps. We’ve worked a lot with him and he’s very engaged. A lot of the players are the ones who were here before, so it shows we’ve grown together.’
Lampard’s calm demeanour and man management have been praised, and he is known to be heavily involved in training, where he leans on coaching lieutenants Joe Edwards and Chris Jones. Those sessions are detailed, and Coventry’s players are given extensive briefings before games.
The Sky Blues were last in the Premier League in 2001 and many of their players lack top-flight experience. But in Lampard, who won 11 major trophies during his illustrious playing career, they have the perfect manager at the helm to pass on his experiences of how to ensure a successful end to the season.
He realises that such impressive form brings its own challenges though. ‘In our squad, there aren’t many players who have been in this position before and it’s a different form of pressure in a promotion battle,’ he says. ‘The biggest challenge is that we can’t relax. We must stay on ourselves. If we do that, we’ve got a good chance.’
Lampard spent the time between his interim stint at Chelsea at the end of the 2022-23 campaign and his appointment at Coventry reflecting on his managerial career and how he could become a better coach.
Given his record in the East Midlands, there is a fair argument to suggest his time in the dugout has been unfairly judged. He reached a play-off final with Derby in his first job, led Chelsea to the Champions League despite a transfer ban in his first spell, and kept Everton up, though he was sacked the following year. The second stint at Chelsea was a hospital pass at the end of a bruising season for the Blues.
At Coventry, he has re-established his reputation as a talented English coach, but if he were to take the Sky Blues, who were in League Two only seven years ago, back to the Premier League after 25 years, where would that rank among his footballing achievements?
The good times are rolling at the CBS Arena as Lampard aims to take Coventry back to the Premier League for the first time since 2001
‘It would be amazing,’ he concludes. ‘The Coventry story is unique. Going down to League Two and the stadium issues – I can still feel the reverberations of that. There’s something special about this club, and the idea it could get back to the Premier League from where it’s been would be a huge deal.
‘If I could have any part in that, I’d be absolutely delighted. I’ve been lucky with what I’ve achieved, but if I did take Coventry up it would go right at the top.
‘There’s still a long way to go though, so I’m not thinking about that at the minute and I’m taking it moment by moment.
‘I’ve played this game for a long time, and the minute people start talking in December about the Premier League, I shut my ears to it. If that moment comes, I can then tell you what it feels like.’
Austrian starlet on the move?
As the January transfer window approaches, one star Daily Mail Sport understands could be on the move is Austrian youngster Evan Eghosa Aisowieren.
Eghosa, 20 is an attacking midfielder who plies his trade for Austrian second tier side Floridsdorfer AC. He has scored nine goals and added two assists in 16 appearances this season, form that saw him called up to Austria’s Under 21s last month.
After coming through the ranks at Coventry, whom he left in 2023, he has excelled in his homeland over the past 18 months and is now attracting significant interest ahead of next month.
It is understood EFL clubs, including those in the Championship, have shown an interest in the youngster, but they face competition from teams in both the Austrian and German Bundesliga.
