Frank Lampard has been warned that he needs to do “more than okay” and get Coventry City promoted under the “current regime.”
Mark Robins found to his cost the demands from owner Doug King who sacked the legendary Sky Blues boss in November after a poor start to the campaign with what he considered to be a top six squad of players.
So far King’s decision to bring in former Chelsea boss Lampard has paid dividends with the 46-year-old coach lifting the team from three points off the relegation zone to three off the top six play-off mix – earning admiration from Sky Sports EFL pundit Don Goodman who has done a U-turn in his thinking, having previously written off City’s chances of promotion this season.
“When you win four games in a row and collect 12 points in such a short period of time, you will catapult up the league,” said the former West Brom and Wolves striker.
“ Coventry City are now in a top-half position which reflects their squad, particularly their attacking talent. Losing against Leeds United, who are the best team in the league, is nothing to worry about.”
Speaking to OLBG, the 58-year-old added: “I do think they’ll be in the mix. I can actually see them winning another four games on the bounce at some point as they’ve got the attacking talent. You can’t rule them out. When I previously wrote them off it was due to an 11-point gap, but a month later it’s now down to three and they certainly have the ability to make the play-offs.”
Goodman, meanwhile, never doubted Lampard’s ability but insists the demand is promotion from the club’s owner.
“Frank Lampard has improved Coventry’s defensive performances,” he said. “Prior to the Leeds game, they’ve got six clean sheets in 14 games, having only kept two clean sheets in their previous 17 outings. If you want to have any success in the Championship, the best way to do it is by building from a solid foundation. They were conceding too many goals earlier on in the season.”
He added: “Frank did well at Derby, did well at Chelsea during his first spell, you can write off his second stint, and kept Everton up. We’ve seen how difficult it’s been for other managers at Everton, too. He hasn’t had a bad coaching career, so I never doubted he could do well at Coventry, given the squad at his disposal.
“When Wayne Rooney went to Plymouth, there were always going to be doubts about his record, even though I wanted him to do well. But I had no doubts that Frank Lampard would do okay. But he needs to do more than okay, he needs to get Coventry to the Premier League under this regime.”
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