Frank Lampard has dropped a huge hint about the future of his two senior Coventry City players who are set to be out of contract in the summer.
Both goalkeeper Ben Wilson and midfielder Jamie Allen are in the last few months of their current deals, having served the club for coming up to six years – making the pair the longest serving players in the Sky Blues squad aside from home-grown Josh Eccles, who came up through the academy system.
Although Lampard has only been at the club for a few months himself, he’s already rewarded Jake Bidwell with a contract extension after being impressed by the experienced defender, and the head coach has now spoken very highly of Wilson and Allen.
Asked if their contract situation is something that he’s minded to address sooner rather than wait until the end of the season, the City boss told CoventryLive: “Umm, a bit both. I mean, coming in mid-season is not easy for those situations because you haven’t felt them for a long time.
“What I have felt is Ben Wilson has been coming back from his injury and he’s fit now, but his impact around the club is big. Obviously he’s a good goalkeeper, so that’s something to analyse, so we are considering that.
“I’m very open and when Ben comes into my office I can’t get him out of there because he doesn’t stop talking. But we are very open about the conversation with it, so we are in a good place. Ben loves the club and loves being here.”
He added: “And what Jamie’s done has been so, so impressive to me because of his attitude when he wasn’t playing. The reason he came in and did so well was the way he was training when he wasn’t in the team. He works, doesn’t speak so much, gets on with his job and I have got a lot of respect for that.
“So the conversations are ongoing with both of them at this point and I can’t put enough on good players who want to play for this club, who train well, and those two you mentioned do that. So we’ll see what happens with them.”
Allen is a player who is clearly a manager’s dream and perfect squad player; a consummate professional whose attributes on the pitch don’t always get the credit they deserve from some supporters, whether it’s his incredible engine and energy or his attention to tactical detail.
“I don’t know that,” said Lampard, commenting on the fans. “I’ve heard them sing his name a fair bit since I’ve been here, so that’s a positive and I think really, deep down, fans appreciate it.
“Every fan, and I’m a fan, has opinions of players from the outside. When you come in and work with people on the inside you see so many things in terms of how they behave, how they train and those things, and then also, like you say, how they take on information, the hard part of the game which is following runners in midfield, positional discipline – all those things.
“And Jamie does that but he also has shown a level of quality and calmness on the ball. I can picture the little clips of the games that have been a bit crazy and all of a sudden Jamie takes his sting out a bit with a good bit of play. So I don’t know how Coventry fans feel but in my short time here so far I’ve got a really, really positive image of Jamie and what he gives to the team and what he gives to the squad.
“And I think he’s been on this journey for a while here as well. I look back at games and say, was Jamie in that play-off final, and all these things, and I think you understand what input he’s had at the club. He’s hugely impressed me in every way, has Jamie.”
That longevity at one club is unusual these days.
“Yeah and I think longevity at one club when people are performing for us is a real bonus,” said Lampard, “because they have seen it all before and when you have new players coming in, young players, you have people like Jamie who understands everything; his experience and he understands standards.
“He’s a bit of a throwback, Jamie, in terms of his training levels. He does things that I used to do. When training is finished everyone will go in and Jamie’s doing strides down side of a pitch or receiving with a bounce board and things like that. And that’s a big plus point for me.
“I’m a great audience for that, when I see players doing that. And then I understand that young players can see that and go, if Jamie Allen can stay out for 20 minutes and bounce balls off a bounce board and do 15 box to boxes then maybe that’s what I should do. So that’s what Jamie Allen is, I think, for the group.”
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