If you’re looking for FA Cup tradition in the modern game, there are few better places to start than Frank Lampard and Coventry City.
Lampard won the trophy four times as a player, scoring the winner in the 2009 Final, and led Chelsea to Wembley as manager in 2009. His father, Frank snr, was part of the West Ham side who defeated Arsenal in the Final 45 years ago.
Coventry beat Tottenham in a classic Final in 1987 and were a cruel VAR call away from staging one of the great comebacks in last season’s semi-final against Manchester United.
Now Lampard and Coventry are trying to write more FA Cup storylines together. The former Chelsea and England midfielder will oversee his 10th game in charge when the Sky Blues meet Sheffield Wednesday in the third round on Saturday.
Never accuse Lampard of shirking a challenge. After a promising start to his managerial career, at Derby and during his first spell at Chelsea, Lampard found the going tough at Everton. It was even tougher in his second spell at Stamford Bridge, a temporary stint that followed the sacking of Graham Potter.
It is to his credit that he has decided to drop back into the Championship in order to rebuild. This is a complicated club, whose owner, Doug King, is not willing simply to sit back and allow the manager to get on with his job. King has ploughed in much of his personal fortune to try to reach the Premier League but that is unlikely to happen until next season at the earliest.
Frank Lampard will take charge of his 10th Coventry match on Saturday when they entertain Sheffield Wednesday
The former Chelsea midfielder won the FA Cup four times during his illustrious career
Coventry supporters were outraged when Mark Robins, one of the best managers in their history, was sacked last November and it has been a slow burner for Lampard so far. He has had three wins, three draws and three defeats, the latest a painful 2-1 loss at Norwich in which both the home side’s goals arrived in stoppage time.
Yet the response from the squad has been broadly positive. Rather than read the riot act after the Norwich game, Lampard is believed to have told the squad simply that he felt devastated for them. There would have been little point in berating a group of players whose morale was already on the floor.
Training sessions have been more detailed, with players given extensive briefings before each fixture on the strengths and weaknesses of their direct opponents.
Though there have been more individual and collective meetings than under Robins, these have been shorter, with Lampard focusing on three or four key messages and drilling them repeatedly. At previous clubs, Lampard sometimes left his coaches to lead the sessions but he is heavily involved here, particularly in the tactical work towards the end of the week.
Lampard has been keen to build a sense of togetherness among his players and before the lunchtime fixture at home to Hull on December 14, he gathered them in a hotel the night before so the players could have breakfast together the following morning. Coventry produced a strong performance and secured a 2-1 win.
Even though some of the club’s younger players grew up idolising Lampard, they are said to find him approachable. In his early meetings, Lampard made it to clear to the squad that his door is always open and so far he has stuck to that.
Lampard watched last season’s semi-final on television, when Coventry recovered from 3-0 down to take United to extra-time, and Victor Torp thought he had scored the winner with virtually the last kick. The goal was ruled out by VAR for the tightest of offside calls and United won the penalty shoot-out.
Midfielder Josh Eccles admitted it had taken the squad about a month to recover from that defeat and the suspicion is that the memory still lingers today, perhaps partly responsible for a sluggish first half of the season in the league.
Coventry suffered a heartbreaking semi-final defeat to eventual winners Manchester United last term
Midfielder Josh Eccles admitted that it took the team around a month to recover from the loss
The best way to banish it is to perform well in the Cup again and even though Coventry are in lower mid-table in the Championship, just six points above the bottom three, the competition will never be an afterthought for Lampard.
‘We are very lucky to do this job and if you don’t understand the magic of the Cup and what it means, you’ll find it out tomorrow,’ he said. ‘You’ll see it from our fans and from the number of Wednesday fans who travel.
‘There is always an extra edge to the ties. This is not an everyday Cup. It has much more history and tradition than similar competitions around the world. Whether you’re 21 or 46, you treat it with the same respect.
‘I can have different feelings about it as I grew up with it – that’s normal – but the players coming through now will have their respect for it too.
‘There is so much football and I respect managers who prioritise different competitions. When I was manager at Derby we had good runs in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup. It brought good feeling, good attention and we ended up reaching the Championship play-off final that season.
‘I don’t know how much they went hand in hand but when you go to Old Trafford and win, it makes players grow, whether they’re young or experienced. I see no negatives to a good Cup run.
‘We should celebrate the history and tradition of this club in the FA Cup. Nobody needs to tell me the importance of it.’