FRANK Lampard believes his ‘authentic’ connection with Coventry City supporters came in the aftermath of his first-ever win as Sky Blues boss.
Lampard took charge of the Sky Blues in November 2024 as he replaced long-serving manager Mark Robins in a controversial appointment at the time.
However, Lampard quickly turned the club’s fortunes around which culminated in Coventry’s promotion to the Premier League as champions this season.
In a video posted on the club’s YouTube channel, Lampard discussed various topics since his arrival as Sky Blues boss with chairman Doug King.
And Lampard admits he needed to win over the club’s supporters with results on the pitch before he could form a bond with the Sky Blues faithful.
Lampard said: “I don’t know how exactly it happened. I can’t even give you a moment.
“It was authentic, it just happened. The whole Mark Robins leaving and people hold him in high regard, Frank’s in some people were happy and some people less.
“Once we quickly started to get to where we wanted to, I think people went ‘I want to get on this journey’.
“In those early stages, it’s normal, the jury can still be out.
“The biggest thing that happened to us, after the Cardiff game, there were a couple of injuries which meant I had to go to a back five against Norwich.
“We lost 2-1 but the performance said to me here maybe is a system that will get us results in the short term to build the confidence.
“We went on a great run, we became a really strong unit, it wasn’t ugly with a back five.”
Lampard’s first win as Coventry boss came in a 1-0 victory at Millwall in his second game at the helm.
And Lampard believes the celebrations following the victory sparked a connection between himself and the supporters.
Lampard added: “Milan [van Ewijk] did it [fist bumps] before me [at Millwall] and then the crowd started going again.
“And I thought oh no, I’m going to have to do this. I hadn’t practiced, I hadn’t done anything.
“I did mess it up. I did three and a half rather than four. I don’t want to watch it back.”
King added: “It felt like they [the fans] sort of forced you and you were a bit uncomfortable doing it.
“Because you’re that person, you’re not straight at the front of it, you follow in on the results side of it.
“It seemed to create a connection with the fanbase which I didn’t know would occur so quickly after the Mark [Robins] situation.”
