'My way' - Frank Lampard slowly making his mark at Coventry City and playing to Simms' strengths
Frank Lampard has had a full week to continue his work with Coventry City as they prepare for a busy festive schedule, kicking off with Saturday’s lunchtime (12.30pm) fixture at Fratton Park.
The Sky Blues travel to the south coast for their first meeting with Portsmouth in almost four years – the last time the two sides met being back in 2020 when City were in League One, earning a 1-0 win at home and a memorable 3-3 draw at Pompey in August 2019.
Having overseen two wins, a draw and one defeat so far in his opening four Championship matches since replacing Mark Robins, the club’s new head coach has been trying to get as much work into his players as possible in order to stamp his own mark on the team. Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s game, the 46-year-old reflected on a positive week of preparation at Ryton.
“It’s been nice to work with the players this week,” he said. “We have done more physical work as well as tactical, and it’s nice to blend those two together off the back of a good win against Hull. They are in a good mood but it’s important that the win doesn’t breed over-confidence.”
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Consistency is clearly the key to success in the Championship and Lampard feels there’s more to come from the players before they achieve that.
“I’m not overly excited because I feel there’s a lot more in the group,” he said. “Millwall is a tough game for anybody and I thought we dealt with the difficult elements of the game very well.
“West Brom there was some good and some not so good, and then against Hull we could see it going where we want it to go. But it’s only one performance and the consistency is something we have to keep going. We have to double down on our work and approach because it’s probably a problem for most Championship teams, finding that consistency over the course of the season.”
One big plus point to Lampard’s first few weeks has been the amount of chances the team have been creating, albeit not always taking them.
“That’s a great positive and says something about the way we play,” he said. “The next step is being more clinical and taking them, and that’s not easy. It’s an easy thing to say and we practice them all week but when you have some developing players, as we do, you have to understand that you might not take all of your chances. Players are developing and they need repetitive work and to feel confidence at that end of the pitch, but it’s nice that we are creating and we have to continue that.”
Asked about Ellis Simms, who showed signs of returning to form when he headed a late chance onto the post against Hull, and whether the big striker needs encouragement, the City boss said: “Yes, I think he does. He’s a striker and confidence is a big part of their game and probably as crucial to anyone on the pitch aside from the goalkeeper. I think that chance will have helped him.
“He’s a quiet lad but behind that there’s a lad with a personality and he’s human, so I was pleased with his affect on the game and when you look at his header, when you look at his strengths, with Ellis it is clear to see he’s big and powerful and he can score goals in the Championship.
“So if he’s involved we need to be able to get the ball into the box for him in the right way and he can do what he nearly did against Hull. I am delighted that we have options at the front end of the pitch and it’s important that all the players understand that whether they start or come on, the impact that they can bring.”
Asked if he sees taking on third from Pompey as an opportunity, he warned: “Well, you have to look at their recent games and everyone’s eyes will be on Derby (when they lost 4-0), but if you look at the run before that they got some results – certainly at home in the last period they have beaten Bristol City, drawn with Norwich – two good teams in the league – so we cannot disrespect them. “Every game is an opportunity in the league, absolutely, but there are no games where you should take anything for granted, far from it, so we will fully respect them but go there with some good confidence ourselves off the back of last week and the good week we have had, so we need to impose ourselves.”
Commenting on Fratton Park, he said: “I have played there a few times and you always felt the atmosphere of the stadium. It’s an old fashioned stadium and it’s nice to have a few of those still around, and the atmosphere of their fans. That’s the part you have to understand that if you give their fans what they want they’ll be really active in the game and can affect it. That’s on us to try to take that away from them.”
On the travelling Sky Blue Army, he said: “My first experience of the travelling fans was at Millwall where they were amazing and we need to use that. We need to engage them by going there with an energy and passion about us in how we approach the game. It’s great that we have that everywhere we go.”
Lampard already appears to have a nice connection with the fans, something he feels is really important.
“Yeah, I think it is,” he said. “You have to be very real with that and can’t strive too hard for that connection. You have to work and appreciate what it is. I think pretty much everywhere I have played, maybe apart from West Ham in my early days when I left I didn’t have such a great connection, but that’s something that if you leave to go to a bit of a rival. Other than that as a player or manager I have had good connections with the fans. And I hope to have that here, but I never take that for granted. I have to work to produce a team that they want to see, and I am very passionate about that.
“So if I can show that and they can feel that then hopefully we will work well together. I appreciate their early support but I want to make it more. I respect the relationship Mark had with them and that’s quite right considering the journey he had with them. I have to do it my own way.”
