Still searching to fill their managerial vacancy, Coventry City owner Doug King has confirmed the reports that he has a former Premier League manager who won countless trophies as a player on his shortlist of candidates.
Coventry’s managerial candidates
The Sky Blues shocked the rest of the Championship when they sacked Mark Robins, who was one VAR decision away from taking his side to the FA Cup final and defeating Manchester United last season. After seven years in charge, the manager was dismissed with Coventry in an unexpected relegation scrap in the early stages of the campaign.
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To their credit, even without a permanent manager and left with interim boss Rhys Carr to take charge, Coventry managed to get the post-Robins era underway in impressive fashion, having rescued an unlikely point against Championship leaders Sunderland last time out.
With the international break now underway, however, Carr may not be in charge for much longer as Coventry look to officially get a new era underway. The likes of Lincoln City’s Michael Skubala have already been linked with a move to take the vacant, but Coventry owner Doug King confirmed that one particular name is on his shortlist.
As confirmed by King, Frank Lampard is among the candidates to replace Robins with the owner now assessing his options. He told Sky Sports, as relayed by BBC Sport: “We’ve received a huge amount of CVs from high quality people, of which Frank is one. We’ve done nothing on that process.
“Clearly we’re in the international break. We’ll be assessing everything. We’ll work out who’s going to make the shortlist and we’ll go from there.”
Out of a job since leaving Chelsea at the 2022/23 campaign, Lampard may finally get the chance to restore some credit to his managerial career.
“Tremendous” Lampard isn’t without risks
To go from the experience of Robins – a man who was the heart and soul of Coventry at times – to a manager who has always fallen just shy of truly impressing as a coach would be the ultimate risk for the Sky Blues.
Birmingham City should be the first example that they look at in this current moment in time. They decided to controversially part ways with John Eustace in favour of appointing Wayne Rooney, only to drop from the top half to relegation into League One as a result.
Currently sat 17th and just one point adrift of the bottom three, Coventry cannot afford to make a similar mistake so close to the busy festive period, which can make or break a season. In a vital two-week period, King must get his next appointment right even if that means denying Lampard a chance to step back into management.
Former Premier League manager and current Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho is among those to have praised Lampard in the past – dubbing his ex-midfielder a “tremendous professional” – but he may be forced to wait for his return to the technical area despite Coventry’s opening.
