It was an appointment heavily debated when Coventry City replaced club legend Mark Robins with Frank Lampard nearly a year ago.
Safe to say any question marks over the decision have disappeared.
Bouncing back from defeat in last season’s play-off semi-finals, Coventry have been by far and away the best team in the Championship this term. They are the only unbeaten side left in England’s top four divisions.
Friday 31st October 7:30pm
Kick off 8:00pm
And it is not just the unbeaten start, but the manner of it. Too many draws blighted their start, but they have now won six on the bounce.
They have scored 34 goals, and no other side has scored more than 20. They have conceded just nine: only two sides have a better defensive record, and by a single goal.
Coventry also have a goal difference of +25, when no other side in the league has mustered a positive goal difference in the double figures.
The two top scorers in the league? Coventry players. Brandon Thomas-Asante has nine, Haji Wright has eight. Thomas-Asante’s best scoring season before this campaign was 11 – a total he also managed at West Brom in 2023/24, and in the past with Salford City in League Two. Right now, he looks the most lethal finisher in the second tier.
Right-back Milan van Ewijk has the second-most assists in the league. Carl Rushworth, the goalkeeper, has more clean sheets than any other in the division.
Matt Grimes has had more touches and completed more passes than any other midfielder.
It is domination across all facets, and a team better in every area than any rival. The fact it is being achieved by a club without the luxury of parachute payments makes it even more impressive.
Lampard needed to win over the sceptics quickly after chequered ends to spells in the Premier League at Chelsea (twice) and Everton – and especially after replacing club legend Robins, who had taken the club from League Two to within one penalty-kick of the Premier League and whose sacking was greeted with general dismay.
He did that by steering them from 17th to the play-offs last season. Right now he is riding a Sky Blue wave and taking it to even greater heights.
Coventry’s incredible start & the records they could break
Most points in a season
- Reading hold the record on 106 points from 2005/06. Coventry’s current average of 2.33 points per game would see them finish on 107.
Most goals in a season
- Fulham’s 2021/22 title-winning side hold the record. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored 43 of their 106. Coventry currently are on 34 goals from 12 matches. At 2.83 goals per game they are currently on track to score 130 goals this season.
Best goal difference in Championship history
- Reading’s goal difference of +65 from 2005/06. Coventry’s current goal difference in +25. At this rate they are on track for a goal difference of +95.
‘Continuity and adaptability key & Coventry are head and shoulders above the rest’
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The Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast looks ahead to Wrexham vs Coventry in the Championship.
Spending was actually pretty minimal in the summer for Coventry. The only money spent was on Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Luke Woolfenden, and between them they have only started one league game all season.
Even that expenditure was largely offset by the sale of Ben Sheaf to Wrexham, who they will line up against on Friday night, live on Sky Sports.
At a time when huge change seems to have impacted some of the big hitters in the Championship, whether it be squad upheaval at Ipswich, or managerial movements at Leicester, Southampton and Sheffield United, it has been a case of evolution rather than revolution under Lampard at Coventry.
He has built on their good work last season and added strategic depth and adaptability to their game.
Gary Weaver on the Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast:
“It’s not just the scorelines. If you look at the underlying stats we like to talk about, they’re top across the board. They’re the best team in the Championship. Frank has shown he’s willing to change things around tactically. He went to a back three against Portsmouth to counter their physicality, and he might try the same against Wrexham.
“Brandon Thomas-Asante has seven goals in his last seven games. It’s remarkable to think he was almost out the door last January, with Blackburn close to signing him earlier this year. But Frank, as I say, keeps adapting his approach. The big thing for me, as we’ve mentioned before, is the continuity from last season.
“They were excellent in the second half of the campaign, strong in the play-offs, and unlucky to lose against Sunderland. After making just three or four summer signings, they’ve not only carried that momentum forward, they’ve actually improved.
“I know Frank Lampard is trying to play it down, saying it’s the Championship and anything can happen, but right now they are head and shoulders above the rest of the league.”
Lampard: The run won’t last forever
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Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Coventry City and Watford.
Lampard, meanwhile, is keen to stop his side getting carried away ahead of their trip to Wrexham.
“I just want to win games,” he said. “It won’t last forever because that’s football, but we go one game at a time.
“You take the good and bad from the last match and move on. Everyone else can talk about records – we just focus on winning the next one.
“Each opponent gives you different challenges, and we have to be adaptable. Some games you start well and things go your way, others are tougher.
“We make sure the players have the right information, but always focus on our strengths – what we’re good at and how we can impose that every week.
“Confidence and momentum are great, but if you drop your levels you lose them quickly. We want to keep promoting confidence, keep the right feeling on the training ground, and always look for improvement.”
