Inside Frank Lampard’s Coventry City Revival

Inside Frank Lampard’s Coventry City Revival

After 12 games of the Championship season, Frank Lampard’s Coventry City remain the only unbeaten side in the top five divisions of the English football pyramid.

As well as this, out of the top five leagues in Europe—the Premier League, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A, and La Liga—no side can match Coventry’s goal difference of +25. The closest anyone comes is Bayern Munich, sitting on +23 after seven games.

It may be too early to suggest that Frank Lampard and Coventry could already gain promotion, but if Coventry keep up their goalscoring fun, it will be hard to argue against them.

Coventry Fans Reflect on Lampard’s Impact

I was lucky enough to talk to two Coventry fans, Philip Whyman (29) and Reece Procter (36), to get their opinions on their club's rise under Frank Lampard.

For many supporters, Lampard’s appointment came as a shock. Replacing Mark Robins, a man who had spent over seven years in charge and delivered multiple promotions, would never be an easy feat.

Coventry City has made the difficult decision to terminate the contract of Mark Robins as manager.

We thank Mark for all his achievements with us and wish him the best for the future. #PUSB

— Coventry City (@Coventry_City) November 7, 2024

But after 11 months in charge, all the sceptics have been converted. “It's hard to see anyone in a seat when Robins was in there for over 7 years, and he had delivered us so much joy. Happy to be wrong though!” Procter said. Whyman shared a similar view, reflecting the shift in mood among many of the fans. “I absolutely questioned the decision to bring in Lampard over Robins”, he said. “But I have gladly eaten a large slice of humble pie. I’m so thankful to have had him come into the club.”

This optimism stems not just from results, but from how Coventry play on the pitch. “You can tell that he has influenced the midfield players in the squad. Some of them have learnt so much technical ability in the last 12 months,” Whyman said. Procter followed this up by saying, “Given that the core team is also largely unchanged from last season, it would be hard not to emphasise the impact that Frank and his team have had tactically.”

But it’s not just Lampard who deserves credit for Coventry’s rise. I asked both of the men about goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, who has been making headlines recently. “I think a lot of praise has to go to Carl Rushworth,” Procter said. “He's given the team massive confidence.”

And Whyman followed this up, stating: “With previous keepers you could guarantee we would’ve conceded so many more goals already, but Rushworth is of a different class.”

The 24-year-old, on loan from Brighton, has kept six clean sheets, including five in successive games. For comparison, Coventry did not hit six clean sheets in the 2024/25 season until the 18th January after a 1-0 win against Bristol City.

Looking forward, both fans believe that Lampard has what it takes to mingle in the Premier League again. “He has definitely learnt and developed as a coach. It would be incredibly tough, but I'd like to think we would make a good account of ourselves if we went up,” said Procter, and Whyman agreed, stating, “If Doug King (Coventry owner) is ready to financially back Lampard’s transfer decisions then I think we could go up and stay up, which is ultimately the goal of the next 18 months.

Maybe, for the first time in 25 years, we could see the Sky Blues back in the Premier League.

History is made for Coventry City! 👏 pic.twitter.com/2zz3HZvgjt

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 25, 2025

Frank Lampard’s Managerial Career

Unless you are completely new to football, Frank Lampard needs no introduction. A legend of the game, he played over 600 Premier League games for West Ham United, Chelsea and Manchester City.

At Chelsea, he would play over 600 times, score 211 goals and win three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and a Champions League trophy in the 2011/12 season.

Yet since hanging up his boots, Lampard’s managerial record has fallen short of the glittering standards he set during his playing career.

Starting at Derby in 2018, he did manage to finish 6th in the Championship and made the play-off final, going one step further than his predecessor, Gary Rowett, who had fallen short the previous season.

A year after taking the reins at Derby, Lampard had already moved on to bigger and better things.

Chelsea.

The move felt inevitable, almost storybook: a club legend returning to lead his boyhood team. But the romance quickly faded. In his first season, he steered Chelsea to a fourth-place finish and an FA Cup final, a promising start given the club’s transfer ban.

By January 2021, Chelsea had slumped to ninth after winning just two of their previous eight league matches, and Lampard was dismissed.

Just a year later, Lampard would then restart his managerial career at Everton, but less than a year into the job, he would be dismissed, having lost 24 of his 44 games in charge.

A brief return to Stamford Bridge followed, this time as caretaker manager. It offered little redemption: one win from 11 games, eight defeats, and a reminder of how far his managerial stock had fallen since those early days at Derby.

But with Lampard back in the Championship, the league where he made his name as a manager, the future looks very bright.

Over the next 29 league games, “Super Frank” oversaw a remarkable turnaround—winning 16 and propelling the Sky Blues up to fifth, firmly into the promotion picture.

But it has been the 2025/26 season where Lampard has shown his managerial strength.

As mentioned before, loanee goalkeeper Carl Rushworth has instantly made an impact. In 12 games for Coventry, he has kept six clean sheets, including five in successive games.

That run etched his name into club history, as he went an impressive 613 minutes without conceding a goal.

And Coventry do not just impress in defence. Three of their attackers—Brandon Thomas-Asante, Haji Wright, and Victor Torp—all sit in the Championship’s top four scorers. Between them, they’ve found the net 23 times, a front line as ruthless as it is balanced.

Ending the week dominating the race for the @SkyBetChamp Golden Boot. 🌟 pic.twitter.com/Ebjsnv8sIt

— Coventry City (@Coventry_City) October 26, 2025

If Coventry’s form keeps going at this current rate, they will end the season with 107 points, recording a +95 goal difference in the process.

This would break the record for most points in a season—currently held by Reading, who recorded 106 points in the 2005/06 season—and would even match Manchester City’s long-standing goal difference record of +95, set back in 1902-03 when the league campaign was just 34 games long.

The Championship season is a long, hard, and gruelling affair. But the way Frank Lampard’s men are playing, you would not want to bet against them.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🔵 Coventry City are UNBEATEN in the Championship so far this season. They are top of the league having played 12 games. 🔝

Frank Lampard aiming for the Premier League! pic.twitter.com/pQ5R9RYVA0

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) October 25, 2025