'Overwhelmed' Coventry City boss Frank Lampard admits it's all new to him as the fist pumps fly at Millwall
Coventry City ended a five-game winless run with a gutsy, hard-fought victory in dreadful conditions at Millwall.
Heavy winds made several corners almost impossible to take due to the corner flag bending horizontally and the ball blowing away before it could be struck amid an often scrappy affair at The Den – particularly in the first half that was devoid of both quality and chances on goal from both sides.
But Ephron Mason-Clark finally found a way through with a fine far post finish from a Jack Rudoni centre to give the Sky Blues something to hold onto, and a lead that they refused to give up in a determined and hugely creditable defensive display. Here are some of the big talking points from Coventry’s fourth consecutive league win against the Lions.
READ MORE: Coventry City player ratings v Millwall
No mean feat
It’s no mean feat getting a win at Millwall this season, the south east London club going into this fixture looking to extend their impressive unbeaten run to ten games. It was a good time to catch Neil Harris’ men due to the fact that they had their two outstanding centre-halves, Japhet Tanganga and Jake Cooper, out through suspension and injury. The Lions had also only lost twice on home soil in the league this term and taken the scalps of Burnley and Leeds United in their recent sequence of four straight wins, book-ended by draws. For Coventry, it was only their second away win and, crucially, third clean sheet in 19 games in the division.
Back to basics
Although Frank Lampard and his coaches have only had just over a week to work with the players, they have been successful in getting across some of their fresh ideas – the biggest clearly being a back to basics approach to defending. The fact that City kept their first clean sheet for six matches, and only their third of the season tells its own story. Lampard was understandably disappointed with the lack of desire among the players to go that extra yard to compete and win second balls against Cardiff in his opening game. But against Millwall, everyone to a man was throwing themselves into every challenge or ball to be won or cleared. The sight of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto launching himself at a diving headed clearance epitomised the collective spirit to see out the result and keep the rare shut-out. And that has to be the starting point for the rest of the season now; it has to have set the benchmark for more resilient defending from here on in.
Lati leads the way
The standout performer on the day was, arguably, Joel Latibeaudiere, who led by example after a shaky opening few minutes when he gave the ball away and had to recover the situation. The Jamaican international has been a bit of a utility man this season, deployed at both left and right central defensive berths while occasionally filling in at right-back and in midfield. But restored to the heart of the back four – in for Luis Binks on the left – he was everything you want from a centre-half in terms of sniffing out and reading the danger, and then dealing with it effectively. Again, he blocked and headed everything that came his way, and, similar to Sakamoto, threw himself into horizontal heroics to head clear on one occasion as the home side attempted to snatch a late equaliser.
Although only 24, Latibeaudiere is mature beyond his years – a quality that is evident when he speaks and something that translates onto the pitch. And when we’re talking about leaders on the field, Lati is one of those, up alongside Jake Bidwell and Ben Sheaf, who have the potential to fill the void left by the elder statesmen who have long since moved on and are often referenced as one of the missing ingredients of City’s latest pool of talent.
EMC starting to shine
There’s still plenty of work to be done but it’s amazing what a fresh start has done for Ephron Mason-Clark. The summer arrival had a number of goal scoring chances in his first few months at the club, including a handful ghosting in at the back post, but struggled to find the back of the net.
Then, all of sudden, under Frank Lampard he’s bagged two goals in two games and looks a rejuvenated man, albeit far from the finished article. Whether it’s been a confidence issue or merely struggling to adapt to the Championship, or maybe a combination of the two, the great thing is that Lampard says he’s really eager to learn and improve. The goals will have done him the world of good and hopefully he will continue to blossom.
One Franky Lampard
The Sky Blue Army sang, ‘One Franky Lampard...’ just before kick-off and their new head coach joined the players when they went over to thank them for their incredible support after the final whistle. The 46-year-old clearly enjoyed his first win back in football management and building a relationship with the fans – something that is so important, as we have learned from the last seven years under Mark Robins.
As disappointed as most City supporters were about the decision for managerial change, they have made Lampard welcome, and rightly so, in his short time at the club, and that’s something he’s clearly appreciated. And he even got swept up in the post-match scenes, going over to the away stand housing 3,025 at the final whistle to join in the victory celebrations led by conductor in chief, Milan van Ewijk, and his fist pumps whipping up the fans.
And he even felt moved to have a go himself, later admitting: “Yeah, I didn’t know about the ‘Milan’ and I got it wrong because I did four fist pumps rather than three, so hopefully I’ll know next time. But yes, I was overwhelmed with the supporters there, the away fans to travel in such numbers in the bad conditions. I know that’s the norm but this is new for me.”
