FRANK Lampard wants to prove his doubters wrong ahead of his first game in charge of Coventry City this weekend.
Lampard addressed the media for the first time since his appointment as Sky Blues head coach at a packed press conference at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
And the 46-year-old hopes the Sky Blues can discover that winning feeling quickly as he prepares to make his return to the dugout against Cardiff City tomorrow (Saturday, November 30, kick-off 3pm).
Lampard said: “My answer to any people [doubting me] would always be ‘just give me a chance to work’.
“People are very entitled to their opinion, what’s important to me is to work with my idea and it hopefully will be very visible what I’m trying to do.
“Our first step is to win games, winning helps everything else, it helps the training, the development and the feeling, everybody together.
“We have to try and find that as quickly as we can.
“It’s very important to stay level-headed in difficult times to keep moving in a forward direction, I’m ready for that.”
Lampard replaces former Sky Blues boss Mark Robins who guided the club to two promotions, a Championship play-off final and an FA Cup semi-final during his near eight year tenure.
And Lampard hopes he can build on the foundations laid down by Robins and paid respect to the work done by the former Coventry manager.
Lampard added: “I’ve got complete respect for the job Mark [Robins] did here, you can only give credit, understanding the rigours of this job, to be here for such a long time and to have the success, momentum and movement was a huge thing.
“I like to look at it as a point of ‘can I pick up the good work that he did in his own way’, it’s a tactically adaptable squad, used to playing in different formations and well-recruited under his tenure as manager.
“That’s something that’s good, you’re coming to work off the back of someone who has laid some foundations, I’m very aware of it.
“I only want to come here and work hard to give my best to this club, I have absolute respect for what Mark did over his time here.
“I feel refreshed and ready to go, being out of the game you have valuable learning time of seeing the game from the outside, reflecting on things and trying to be better.
“I learnt a huge amount [at Derby], it’s hard to compare [this job] directly but there’s a feeling of warmth and where we want to get to which is what I felt at Derby.”
Lampard reached the Championship play-off final with Derby County in his first season as a manager in 2018/19.
He then managed former club Chelsea and Everton in the Premier League, helping the Blues to a Champions League finish and FA Cup final, while he guided the Toffees to top-flight safety.
A second stint in charge of Chelsea as caretaker manager at the end of the 2022/23 season saw him claim just one win from 11 matches.
However, Lampard insists he has learned from his previous experiences in the dugout.
He said: “I want to play exciting football, hopefully the proof will be in the pudding, I want us to be exciting to watch in an attacking sense, I also want us to be difficult to play against without the ball.
“I don’t want to make any promises at this point, I just want to work. I’m just going to get my head down and do the job and hopefully I can do a successful one.
“When I left Chelsea, I went into a job that was a bit of babysitting, I learnt a lot, it wasn’t a coaching job it was a holding the baby job whilst the transition was happening.
“I learnt that if you don’t get the environment right, then it’s very difficult to succeed.
“Chelsea in that moment was in transition, now the environment has changed there, you can see the results on the pitch.”
And Lampard wants to embrace the challenge ahead of him with Coventry just two points above the Championship relegation zone.
Lampard said: “I want Coventry fans to be happy with the club that I produce, that would be whether I’m in the Premier League or the Championship.
“I’ve been offered opportunities abroad which I didn’t what to do, this was the right opportunity for me.
“I’ve got no ego that needs to take me to the Premier League, I’m very happy to work with people to make this club better.
“It’s very important we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, I’ve got a good belief in this squad, there’s a reason why we are where we are at this point.
“We’re all ambitious but we also have to be realistic, the quality is there in the squad, I enjoy working with young players.
“I feel very positive with this challenge.”
Lampard sat alongside Coventry owner and executive chairman Doug King at the press conference.
King felt Lampard’s application for the job stood out in a ‘high-calibre’ shortlist.
King said: “We went through the process and he was the outstanding candidate that we felt was right for the moment and right for this period for our development as a football club.
“We had a lot of great applications and we had a shortlist that was high-calibre, Frank stood out and he’s putting himself back in the arena which is a brave thing to do always.
“We haven’t had a new head coach here for eight years nearly, I felt the energy, there’s a lot do but I trust in Frank and his coaching team.”
Coventry host Cardiff on Saturday, November 30 with kick-off at 3pm at the CBS Arena.
