Almost as soon as news of the potential appointment of Frank Lampard as new head coach at Coventry City broke Twitter ignited with a passionate debate about whether or not, despite his disastrous stint managing Derby County, the man England fans once pinned so much hope on actually deserves another chance in the harsh world of Championship management.
Frank Lampard took over as the Rams manager in May 2018 and guided them to the Championship play-off final during his first season at the club. Lampard’s name was suggested in connection with the Chelsea manager’s job despite having lost to Aston Villa in the playoff final and he then made the audacious move back to his old club.
And then there was the collapse of that reputation in football after failing at Everton before stumbling back to Chelsea. Lampard’s exploratory move to Coventry City has grown speculative over recent weeks which have had fans and journalists questioning whether the latter scenario is actually viable?
Simon Jordan the ex-Chairman at Crystal Palace, discussed Lampard’s suitability and what it means for Coventry in a recent segment on talkSPORT. Jordan told talkSPORT: “If we were on this basis, he would never have got a fraction of the jobs he has had. Just because Frank’s had some good jobs doesn’t mean he should get another one.
Jordan accepted Lampard has done an okay job at Derby County, but said his profile attracted more attention so he should not been compared to others and cautioned against clubs hiring for a big name alone. Danny Murphy, also a pundit on the show, praised Lampard for guiding Derby to the play-off final, and his tactics and recruitment.
Take what Lampard achieved at Derby County and Chelsea into account, and he certainly does possess success potential as a manager. However, the overall consensus is that Coventry city simply was not the right gig for Lampard at this point in his career, even if most of these fans were clearly idealising over his previous time in the Championship.
the year before Lampard at Derby we finished sixth, he brought in Mason Mount, Tomori and Wilson, all great loan signings and we finished sixth again.
we got to the play off final and he benched the main goal scorer who got them there because he had fallen out with him, good player, not the best at grown up management…