Coventry City will hope they don’t follow Derby County fate with Frank Lampard

Sunderland defeated Coventry City in their Championship play-off semi-final, which will undoubtedly lead to speculation regarding the club’s future plans for the summer.

After losing 2-1 at home in the first leg, Frank Lampard’s team rallied to take a 1-0 lead at the Stadium of Light after ninety minutes. This forced extra time, but Dan Ballard’s goal two minutes into stoppage time broke the hearts of the Sky Blue and gave Sunderland the victory.

This is where Frank Lampard has gone previously.

Lampard has previously experienced disappointment during the Championship play-offs.

After Derby’s loss to Fulham in the Championship play-off semi-finals, former manager Gary Rowett left for Stoke, and he was hired by Derby County at the end of May 2018.

There were huge expectations. After losing in the play-offs in 2013 and 2016, Derby required Premier League football to justify the significant investment made by owner Mel Morris in the transfer fund.

“Spygate” would have a significant impact on Derby’s 2018–19 campaign.

When Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa acknowledged in January 2019 that he had sent someone to “spy” on Derby’s training sessions after a staff member was discovered acting “suspiciously” outside their training ground prior to a match between the two teams the previous month, which Leeds won 2-0, it was the story that would come to dominate Lampard’s first season as manager.

The EFL fined Leeds £200,000 for this, but the animosity between the two teams intensified when they were scheduled to face each other in the semi-finals after finishing in the play-off spots.

Leeds prevailed 1-0 at Pride Park in the first leg, but Lampard’s squad battled back from a two-goal deficit to win 4-2 and secure a trip to Wembley in the second game at Elland Road.

But their luck would run out there. Derby hasn’t even approached a comeback since losing to Aston Villa 2-1 in the play-off final.

Lampard gets Chelsea invitation as Derby’s overspending consumes them

This loss would prove to be Lampard’s final Derby match as manager. That summer, he was hired as Chelsea’s manager.

He would then play for Everton and briefly return to Stamford Bridge before taking over as manager of Coventry in November of last year, replacing longtime manager Mark Robins.

In contrast, Derby was overburdened by Morris’ expenditure and has hardly been in the top half of the Championship since.

In 2022, they dropped into League One as a result of many point deductions due to financial issues and an administrative stint. That August, they were saved by being sold to David Clowes.

 

However, data and statistics only partially convey this story because Coventry in 2024–2025 and Derby in 2018–19 were two very different football teams.

Derby’s 2019 loss to Aston Villa started a series of events that nearly brought the team to ruin, although Coventry in 2024–2025 is on the opposite end of a similar trajectory.

For years, they were a “crisis club,” but their problems were never with the amount of money invested in the team; rather, they were a long-running conflict between the local council and the club’s previous owners over who owned their stadium.

After the owners finally sold to Doug King in November 2022, the club has been growing ever since.

Supporters of Coventry who are thinking ahead should remember that these conditions were extremely different.

For instance, there is little evidence that Coventry has been excessively spending, unlike Derby.

 

Coventry’s 2024–2025 expectations differed from Derby’s 2018–19 expectations. Despite that play-off loss, placing fifth is a respectable return for a Championship team that does not receive parachute money.

Furthermore, there have been few signs that a larger club will attempt to get Lampard this summer, despite the fact that he was always going to be attracted by the Chelsea position in 2019.

Despite their sadness at this setback, Sky Blues supporters may still have a lot to look forward to next season with Lampard in the dugout because of how different the conditions were at Derby in 2019 and at Coventry six years later.

It is hoped that he is here to stay and isn’t planning to leave Coventry like he did Derby.