Coventry City news from CoventryLive as manager marks three month in CBS Arena hot seat by addressing supporters
Frank Lampard issued a video ‘thank you’ tribute to Coventry City fans to commemorate his three-month tenure. Despite his high-profile hiring, the Chelsea and England playing icon still had large shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of Mark Robins and what the popular manager had accomplished during his seven years at the club.
However, after lifting the squad from two points off the bottom three when he first arrived to a point and a place outside the play-offs in his first 12/13 weeks in charge, Lampard quickly endeared himself to Sky Blues supporters as the man who picked up the baton and got the club back on track to push for promotion. When asked what the City fans meant to him in the first three months, the 46-year-old head coach replied: “Well, they’ve been amazing for me and the team because I absolutely respect the relationship and feeling they had with Mark Robins, who had an incredible managerial career here in terms of the club’s journey. And I am fully aware of that time, and some difficult times, as well as his success and near misses in the play-off final and the FA Cup semi-final.
“And all I’ve done is attempt to come in, work, and interact with the club. It’s something I’ve always done in the clubs where I’ve worked. It’s been quite easy because of the people behind the scenes, both staff and players, as well as the fans, who have been extremely supportive of the team and myself.”
Lampard’s first true connection with the Sky Blue Army was in only his second game in charge, a 1-0 victory at The Den, when Milan van Ewijk persuaded him to address the fans with the now-customary post-match fist pumps. “I won’t forget the first game I went to Millwall,” he recalled. “To witness how amazing the away fans were, and this has continued since. And, happily, we’ve been able to give them something to be thrilled about. “You could taste that in the CBS against Preston last week, and you can feel it in the talk surrounding the club right now.
So, while I’m grateful for that in general, I recognize that I still have a job to perform because I want to make them happy each week. It isn’t always easy, but that’s the challenge ahead.” When asked if he felt he had to win over the fans when he came in, he said: “I don’t think any position now in modern management, the conversation about a change in manager is so open now, so everyone’s got an opinion on it, and I think whatever job you may go to or whatever and muck… Unless Pep Guardiola walks through the door, the rest of us have a responsibility to prove our place and work, as well as what it means and how it works. So I was aware of it when I entered.
“It’s a nice challenge for this level of competition, and if you get a position, you appreciate the level of the work and want to do well in it. However, I have had the impression that the folks here understand what we are attempting to accomplish. So let’s keep trying.
When a new manager/coach takes over, it is usually because the fans wanted the previous one out. However, at City, the majority of supporters were outraged by Doug King’s decision to remove one of the club’s most successful managers. “Yeah, and I understand that,” Lampard said, “but I think where the club was and where we were in the league was a reality at the time.” This is not my decision. I was sitting at home at the time, and then the call comes, and you accept it for what it is: an opportunity in front of you. “You cannot change what has occurred. I believe there have been strong foundations constructed here in recent years that I have not been a part of, but I have walked into that, and now my job is to see if I can better it in any way. What can I do to better on the training pitch and in standards or on the training ground? That’s my primary concentration, I suppose.”
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