FRANK Lampard opened up on his first few months as Coventry City head coach as the first guest on the newly-launched EFL Unfiltered podcast.
Speaking to former Coventry loanee and Sky Sports EFL expert David Prutton, Lampard discussed his ambitions with the Sky Blues and his managerial past.
Lampard stressed his ambition to push the club forward and has the play-offs in his sights following a productive start to life in the Coventry Building Society Arena dugout.
Lampard said: “As a club, I’ve found the players really responsive, everything we try on the training ground, they’re trying to do what we’re saying and buying in.
“In terms of the big picture, the team that made the play-off final two years ago has drastically changed, there’s been a big transition.
“They obviously got to the FA Cup semi-final last year and changed a little bit again.
“We just have to take everything as it is now, where we’re at now, where I came in at, where we’ve managed to move it in a forward direction.
“We’ve got more steps to go, we want to push towards the play-offs and that’s a good thing.
“It’s an ambitious club and an ambitious owner, I love that, I’ve very ambitious, I want to make this team as good as it can be.”
The 46-year-old endured difficult spells at both Everton and Chelsea prior to taking the reins at Coventry.
That came after he led Derby County to the Championship play-off final in his first season as a manger.
He then guided Chelsea to a top-four finish and FA Cup final before later keeping Everton in the Premier League.
However, Everton sacked Lampard following a poor run of form in his second season at the Toffees.
He later returned to Chelsea as caretaker manager until the end of the 2022/23 season but won just one of his 11 games in charge.
And Lampard admits he has learned a lot from his previous failures and has more of an open mind in charge of the Sky Blues.
Lampard added: “There’s lots of things I did at Derby in the early days that I still do now and I think they’re good. There’s some things along the way that didn’t work and you learn a little lesson.
“As a coach, you have an idea of how you want to play and the context of the job you walk into can completely change that.
“At Derby, the squad was low-block counter attack, it was a little bit older in profile, and we could bring in players of youth, energy and legs that made us a high-pressing team.
“Going to Chelsea, we had a transfer ban but we had the tools to continue in that vain, if you look at my career up util then, you’d say I was attacking, high-pressing, I’m proud of that.
“When I went to Everton, I went with similar ideas, I’m not stupid I knew there was a different squad in a relegation battle.
“I realised after three weeks, the things I did at Chelsea and Derby I couldn’t do and I had to find a way. You change your style and we stay in the league which was an achievement.
“I find that really interesting, you see managers now stick to their guns through success and failure, I’ve got respect for it.
“I’ve had different challenges put in front of me and tried to respond and tweak and get better.
“You live and learn from failures as well as successes, mainly failures, I’m more well-rounded for that, coming to Coventry I’ve got more of an open mind.”
Upon taking the job at Coventry, Lampard admits the feeling reminded him of his first managerial experience at Derby.
Lampard added: “One thing I’ve learnt is, the relationship with the owner and important people at the club needs to be a good relationship to stand the test of time and to be aligned in what your ideas and expectations are.
“There are reasons why I really wanted this job, you look at the size of the club, where it is in the league, do you think they can I felt that with Coventry and got really excited about the club quickly.
“It reminded me of the feeling I had with Derby, the club is in the city, are well-supported, the history, the ambition, it was the choice for me.”
Lampard also touched on the influence of his uncle Harry Redknapp and 13-time Premier League winning manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
“Harry [Redknapp] has such an amazing influence and amazing energy, Sir Alex Ferguson has been a great little mentor from afar – he’s like the godfather of managers.
“Sir Alex is very connected with the LMA, when I was at Everton he lived close by to where I was living and managed to have a coffee with him and it was fascinating.
“Harry is great for me personally, he’ll ring me on the way back after I’ve won a game with Coventry, he’s my uncle but he’s so invested and supportive.
“Losing your job as a manger is tough for your pride but it’s just a reality if you’re going to manage, it’s an inevitability.”
The Sky Blues boss also discussed some of his tactical decisions and wants City’s midfield players to offer more versatility to his squad.
Lampard heaped praise on Danish midfielder Victor Torp for adapting his game to suit his tactical style.
Lampard added: “I love seeing that natural drive in players, I feel it a bit with Jack Rudoni here, ‘I want to train gaffer, how can I get get better?’ and that was me as a player.
“We’re pigeon-holing players as a six, an eight or a 10, the game has evolved but I think we need to re-coach players that can do a bit of everything.
“I like having a bit more versatility in my players, particularly midfield players.
“Victor Torp is playing really well for us, when I started working with him he said he’s more of a 10 or an eight and he’s played in the double-six for us recently and he’s doing it brilliantly.
“It doesn’t mean he’s not a 10 or an eight but you can play deeper and offer us so much with your technical qualities and physicality.”
