FORMER Coventry City boss Gordon Strachan insists the only way current Sky Blues head coach Frank Lampard can better the achievements of predecessor Mark Robins is by taking the club to the Premier League.
The Sky Blues sit one point outside of the Championship play-off places after claiming a fifth league win in their last six games with a late 1-0 victory against Queens Park Rangers in midweek.
Coventry sacked Robins in November with the club 17th in the table. And his successor Lampard has guided the Sky Blues up to eighth following an impressive run of results since taking charge at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Former Sky Blues boss Strachan managed the club in the Premier League from 1996 to 2001 and believes securing promotion back to the top flight is the only thing Lampard can do to eclipse the achievements of Robins.
Speaking to Genting Casino, Strachan said: “Lampard, he is a big name. There’s no denying that. Whether or not he’s the right name? I don’t know.
“I think Frank’s got past the stage of his name now. His name will help him for a game, maybe two. But after that, your name means nothing.
“This is crunch time. So, as Coventry fans, we hope that Frank does a great job.
“And the only thing he can do better than Mark Robbins is get them to the Premier League.”
Robins has since taken charge of Coventry’s Championship rivals Stoke City. He will return to the CBS Arena with the Potters for the first time since his departure next month.
Robins guided the Sky Blues from League Two to the brink of the Premier League during a near eight-year stint with the club.
And Strachan believes Robins is Coventry’s best manger since Jimmy’s Hill reign as Sky Blues boss in the 1960’s.
Strachan added: “I’ve got to say, I think he’s probably the best manager, apart from maybe Jimmy Hill, that Coventry have ever had.
“Mark did such a brilliant job and people would say, ‘why did he go or why did they make him go or whatever?’
“I think even with Mark, when Adi Viveash left, his right-hand man, it was huge, because that was one of the best partnerships in football.
“It kind of meant, what’s going on there? It might be one of those things where the dynamic shifted a wee bit.
“I think after getting to the FA Cup semi-final, nearly getting promotion, you can’t do any more than that. That is magnificent for Coventry.”
