My six-year-old loves Frank Lampard. It’s not thanks to his exploits as the Premier League’s top-scoring midfielder. Nor is it for all he won at Chelsea or his forlorn efforts as part of England’s ‘Golden Generation’. Even steering his uncle’s beloved Everton to safety two seasons ago doesn’t make the cut. For five years from 2013, Lampard penned a series of books, 20 in all, about a boy who accidentally ends up owning a magic football. It takes him, his friends and his dog on adventures, through time and space, where their friendship and endeavour help them overcome adversity. Now, ‘Frankie’s Magic Football’ has landed in Coventry. Has it opened a portal to the Premier League?
Let’s travel back in time. Not too far. Just to Boxing Day 2024. A sixth game in charge saw Frank Lampard’s side start the day 17th in the Championship table, six points above the relegation zone. They were still smarting from a 4-1 reverse at Portsmouth.
By full time at the CBS Arena, Coventry were 10 points off the play-offs, celebrating a 4-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle. Lampard’s long-time England teammate, Wayne Rooney, would leave Plymouth before the year’s end, while Lampard’s star is on the rise, after a controversial appointment in the West Midlands.
“When it was announced that Mark Robins had been sacked, the results hadn’t been good. But he’d turned it around so many times in previous seasons from positions that were exactly the same, if not worse.” David Moore from the Sky Blues Extra podcast tells me.
“The general consensus was that it was too soon, it was knee-jerk. We should have given him more time, until Christmas. We’d been through thick and thin together and in the days when he dragged us up from League Two and League One, some people believed that we wouldn’t have a club if it wasn’t for him.”
With Robins gone, Lampard arrived with a chequered record. He’d missed out on a Premier League promotion with Derby County, losing the play-off final to Aston Villa. His time at Chelsea was eclipsed by his mid-season replacement, Thomas Tuchel, winning the Champions League. Everton was mixed and his return to Chelsea as a caretaker was a write-off. He won just one of his 11 games in charge. Whether it was fair or not, Coventry City felt like a last roll of the dice.
Cov Reborn
For David, things have gone better than in his ‘wildest dreams’. The Sky Blues are now on a run of eight league wins in nine, their best in 55 years, with the one defeat coming against table-toppers Leeds United.
“The main thing he’s brought to the players is self-belief. I think they were down on their luck; they were getting beaten and at the end of games they were conceding sloppy goals. [Now], they just look much more focused and resilient.”
I was at that one league defeat and on the night, Leeds were on a completely different level. What’s been impressive however, is their continued resolve. You’d never know they’d taken a knock at all.
Solid spine, one-to-ones and playing out of their skin
Looking at the changes that Lampard has enacted, first off, sticking to one goalkeeper has been vital. Oliver Dovin has a rick in him but Brad Collins had a day to forget at Fratton Park. He could have saved all four of Callum Lang’s efforts for Portsmouth and Lampard hasn’t started him since. Dovin is something of a flamboyant shot-stopper but in conceding two fewer than the stats say he should have, the 22-year-old is rewarding the faith that’s been placed in him by his boss.
Ahead of him is a defence led by the human battering-ram that is Bobby Thomas. An aerial threat in the opposing box, he has four goals this season, all headers and all from corners. He can be a tad rash with committing himself too high up the pitch but in recent games, he looks to have stepped up a level.
Lampard hasn’t been afraid to work individually with players too, often taking the time for one-to-ones, focussing on the smallest details whilst out on the training field. What’s telling with this are his reflections on managing players at this level, rather than higher up the pyramid. “When you try and deliver messages in meetings and repeat and repeat and repeat, which is a bit of our job, they really want to do it because there’s a humility about them”, Lampard said on EFL Unfiltered.
“There’s a work ethic about them. They want to be better. Again, this is general, but I found it at Derby, and I find it here in my early days at Coventry.”
That reflected his own efforts as a player and Lampard has singled out midfielder Jack Rudoni, who like him, is willing put in the hours to improve his game.
I don’t think we ever saw Lampard dislocate his shoulder to head home a goal, but Rudoni did just that in scoring the opener against Oxford. He has excelled across those last nine league games, involving himself in seven goals in the process. Lampard confirmed he’ll be out until after the international break, which gives the chance for someone else to step up, ahead of facing a familiar face.
Robins Returns
Coventry were but a spot-kick from the Premier League two seasons ago and mere handful of VAR pixels plus another shoot-out away from a famous FA Cup semi-final victory over Manchester United last term. It was the finest of margins for Mark Robins, who returns with Stoke City on Saturday lunchtime.
For David, it’s a moment to mark, before moving forward. “The great Jimmy Hill has a statue here and Mark Robins has probably had as much of an impact at the club, so I’d love to see him get that in the future too. But Saturday is about football, and we need to get the points in this play-off race.”
There’s always one and this season, Coventry are the team that have conjured up the perfect run at the perfect time. Once Robins’ return is out of the way, they have crucial games against play-off rivals that will see their voyage scale new heights or leave them crashing back down to Earth.
So, let’s use the magic football to jump forward in time, shall we? I can see Coventry remaining seriously unscathed by mid-April and by then, the Premier League will feel less fantasy and more a nearing-reality. Dare they dream? A new chapter in the storied history of Coventry City awaits. Lampard could be authoring his greatest adventure yet.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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