Coventry's best run since 1970 - what is Lampard doing right?
Taking over from the EFL's longest-serving boss was never going to be an easy task for Frank Lampard.
Mark Robins had spent seven years with Coventry City, won two promotions, nearly reached the Premier League and then almost guided them to an FA Cup final just six months before he was sacked on 7 November last year.
They were big shoes to fill.
"I like to prove people wrong," Lampard said following his appointment - a decision that was not universally backed by the Sky Blues fanbase at the time.
The former Chelsea, Everton and Derby County manager has already gone some way to doing just that following an impressive recent run of form.
When Lampard took over three weeks after Robins left, Coventry were 17th in the Championship, 10 points from the play-off spots and only two points above the relegation zone.
A little more than three months later and Coventry are now fifth, propelled by eight wins from their past nine, losing only against leaders Leeds United in that time.
With their next test the visit of Stoke City - and return of Robins to the CBS Arena for the first time since his departure - BBC Sport takes a look at Lampard's progress in the West Midlands so far.
'I didn't envisage such a quick turnaround'
Lampard says he "didn't envisage" climbing the table so quickly to challenge for the play-offs but also isn't "getting carried away with where we are now".
"I felt that we could improve and work ourselves up the table but the reality was, we were looking behind as much as ahead for a few weeks when we first got in," Lampard told BBC Football Focus.
"It's not easy to bring confidence, it's not easy to find the things in the team we need to correct, to be more compact.
"These things have to take a bit of work and time, so I wasn't sure how quickly it would happen.
"We're not going to get automatic promotion, we know that gap is too big. But can we do everything in our power to close the gap? I thought we could, I just didn't think we would get in as quickly.
"So, the next challenge is to show consistency."
Coventry's best league run for 55 years
Coventry are on their best run in the league for 55 years in terms of sheer points accumulation over a nine-game period.
Their recent tally of 24 points in nine matches is their highest since they did the same between November 1969 and February 1970, winning eight and losing one in what was then Division One (now the Premier League).
The Sky Blues strung together 14 games without defeat in 2020 (W11 D3) on the way to winning League One under Robins, also between January and March, but didn't exceed 24 points in any nine consecutive outings despite that streak.
Similarly, Lampard has never been on such a run during his managerial career, even when he took Derby to the Championship play-offs in 2018-19, nor with Chelsea the following campaign when the Blues finished fourth in the top flight.
How does Lampard compare to Robins?
The Lampard effect is clear to see, with Coventry improving on every metric in the Championship compared to Robins this season.
They have scored more goals per game under Lampard (1.50) than Robins (1.28) and also conceded fewer in each match (1.05 compared to 1.35).
"When you get in, you try and analyse the problems quickly and we were conceding too many goals," Lampard said.
"We weren't compact enough, we weren't aggressive enough, so we tried to really prioritise our off the ball work.
"The players have done it because they've bought into everything we've tried to say.
"I have to say, this group of players, the humility, the application of them is absolutely amazing."
Among the standout performers who have improved under Lampard are creative midfielder Jack Rudoni and winger Ephron Mason-Clark.
No other Coventry player has had more goal contributions than Rudoni (9) since Lampard arrived, scoring three goals and providing six assists, while Mason-Clark has netted four times and laid on another four in that time.
Striker Ellis Simms has also seen an upturn in performances, putting opposing defenders under more pressure than previously, and his output has increased, grabbing four goals and an assist, compared to just two goals under Robins.
That has perhaps stemmed from Simms having to fight for his spot with Lampard favouring striker Norman Bassette in the early stages of his Coventry tenure.
Lampard hasn't been afraid to tweak the line-up and shape either, shifting almost seamlessly between 3-5-2 and 4-3-2-1, whether that be with Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante up top or Simms on his own.
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto has provided further attacking threat from midfield with three goals and an assist and the return of top goalscorer Haji Wright from injury could yet still prove timely.
"We've had challenges, had some injuries, had to change shape, be adaptable," Lampard said.
"Now we're getting players fit so now we've got this bit more competitive nature to the squad where we can make changes in game."
If the Sky Blues continue at the same two points per game ratio they've achieved since Lampard took charge, they will end the season on 75 points.
That tally would have seen them finish in a play-off spot in 21 of the previous 23 Championship campaigns.
"I think we have to feed off our position in a positive way," Lampard said.
"Our run-in is a challenge. We absolutely have to go game by game. We back ourselves now, we know we can compete, we've shown that in the last period.
"But we cannot take our foot off the pedal in terms of our work and our prep and everything we do, so I'm looking forward to seeing if we can keep this form and momentum because we will take some hits in those 11 games.
"We've had a really good run but it won't look that way all the time. I'm a realist, I understand. Can we bounce back from those quickly? That will be the test of where we are."
Hard work and self-belief paying dividends
Even in their wildest dreams, Sky Blues fans couldn't have imagined things would be going as well as they are, right here, right now, under Frank Lampard.
To say his appointment was greeted by scepticism in some quarters would be something of an understatement, especially given whose shoes he was recruited to fill, and at one point, merely staying in the division would have been regarded as an achievement, never mind challenging for a play-off spot.
There have been some bumps in the road; most notably taking an early lead, but then having the floor wiped with them by Portsmouth, and leading 1-0 at Norwich, going into four minutes of added time, only to contrive to lose 2-1.
However, the positives far outweigh the negatives to this point, and some long-standing demons have been exorcised as well – winning in Swansea for the first time in 75 years, and beating Preston in a league match, which hadn't happened since September 2007.
How's he done it? To this untrained eye, by instilling much-needed belief in the squad, working extremely hard, both on and off the pitch, collectively and individually with players to extract every last drop of positivity from them, and that approach is reaping huge dividends at the moment.
An outstanding example of that occurred just last weekend, at Oxford, when they took the lead twice, were pegged back twice, had a penalty saved at 2-2, and yet still went onto win 3-2.
Trust me, as someone that's watched every game so far, that would not have happened earlier in the season.
Credit must go to Lampard's coaches Joe Edwards and Chris Jones too - that's clearly a dynamic that works extremely well, and speaking on behalf of all City fans, long may it continue.
'He's built a bond with the fans'
"It's going quite well isn't it," Coventry fan Sam Riman told BBC's Sky Blues fancast.
"Earlier this year, I remember saying, 'it's a bit of a write-off season, we'll just see what Lampard can do, see what that brings in the summer and go again next year'.
"And now here we are, fifth in the Championship table."
Lampard has made a habit of applauding the Coventry fans after each game and fist-pumping to the crowd when they win and BBC CWR sports editor Rob Gurney says it "shows he's got a bond with the fans by doing that".
"Going back to the end of November when he first came in, he knew the previous incumbent was very popular with the fanbase and he needed to build that relationship pretty quickly and he's done that," Gurney said.
Supporter Adam Sloman said the relationship Lampard has built with the fans was "arguably the hardest part of the job".
"He was very quick to say about the great work done by his predecessor but he was very careful to make sure he got the fans on side," Sloman said.
'The Championship can smack you in the face'
Lampard reiterated he's "under no illusions" how difficult the final two months of the campaign will be and says Coventry must "guard against any form of complacency to be a top team".
"Some things have come together nicely, it's a lovely period of time because we're winning games," he added.
"The next challenge is the bigger one. We've got the run-in and the minute you go 'we've cracked it', this game, this Championship will smack you in the face.
"There's a long way to make the play-offs, to get through the play-offs to make the final. But if we can do that, it would be huge for this city.
"It would be amazing."
