After the big, bold buildup that accompanied Frank Lampard’s arrival as Coventry’s head coach, awkwardly his first match in charge was in danger of falling painfully flat. “Welcome, Frank,” was the message on the giant scoreboard in the South Stand. “A new era begins,” said the stadium announcer at kick-off, in keeping with the company line.
On Thursday, Lampard’s first day in the job, LED screens and banners around this ground trumpeted his entrance to the stage. In the club’s defence, as the chairman, Doug King, had said, a new manager is a novelty in these parts after almost eight years of continual progress under Mark Robins.
Everything seemed set for Lampard to make the perfect start as Coventry entertained Cardiff, a team still fumbling around without a permanent manager and an away win all season. How things played out jarred a little, Coventry limping towards a defeat with a meek performance until the referee, James Bell, after a conflab with his assistant, penalised Calum Chambers for handball, presenting Victor Torp with the chance to establish parity from the penalty spot. With 88 minutes gone, Torp sent Jak Alnwick the wrong way, a sweet spot-kick.
Lampard, in a black trenchcoat, clenched his right fist when Ephron Mason-Clark cancelled out Yakou Méïté’s opener, a free header from a short corner, and was unmoved when Torp levelled.
At the final whistle Lampard applauded all four sides of the stadium. The locals, despite many voicing their disapproval at King’s decision to dispense with Robins, sang the 46-year-old’s name in the seconds immediately after kick-off and in second-half stoppage time.
“I’m a low-key person,” he said. “I’m here as a head coach, I’m not here as a celebrity. I’ve coached teams in the Champions League, but that’s not how I am. My enjoyment out of this comes out of trying to make a team better. I shy away from those moments sometimes, even if people might not think that. I appreciated it, certainly, didn’t want to make it about me. It’s not my moment, it’s the start of 90 minutes … I’m here to work and do well for the club.”
For Cardiff, it was an agonising finale to a game they shaded. Omer Riza, who has been in interim charge for 69 days, was encouraged by his team’s display and in Lampard he duelled with a familiar face from his days at West Ham.
“I was in the first-team squad for two years, so I trained with Frank every day, we went to all the home and away games together,” said Riza, who remains in the dark about his future. “I said to him to say hello to his dad because Frank Lampard Snr [the assistant manager to Harry Redknapp] was a coach at the time as well. It’s nice to see him back in a job.”
Lampard said he was touched by the reception from Coventry’s supporters. “I was really pleased, very thankful to the fans for that,” he said. “I understand the legacy of the last manager. I’m not here to fight that, I’m here to say: ‘Fantastic,’ and to try and do my job.
“We wanted more than a draw, but they were very supportive. That relationship is all about us now. It’s about what momentum we can build. I don’t want to be bordering on the side of negative because I’m pleased we got a point.”
Coventry, who move up a place to 16th, three points above the relegation zone, struggled to penetrate their opponents and faded after Alex Robertson, invited to shoot, powered Cardiff in front early in the second half from 25 yards. Lampard introduced Torp, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Ellis Simms, with whom he worked at Everton, from the bench in search of a spark, citing his frustration at his players’ apparent lack of bite and appetite to win second-balls.
Simms would provide the cross Chambers was adjudged to have handled, but only after the referee jogged over for a word with his assistant. After a lengthy delay, Torp fired in the penalty.
The reception at the final whistle was muted. Lampard knows there is much work to do. “I saw some things that probably relate to why we are where we are,” he said.
