Shaun Wright-Phillips: Frank Lampard’s ‘hard work’ sparked managerial revival at Coventry City

Former Chelsea, QPR and England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips insists Frank Lampard has earned the chance to guide Coventry City back to the Premier League.

Wright-Phillips, who shared a dressing room with Lampard at Chelsea, says the 47-year-old’s resilience and determination earned him the managerial post at the Sky Blues.

A 4-2 victory over promotion rivals Middlesbrough on Tuesday night firmly cemented Coventry’s status as the favourites to go up as champions this season to secure Premier League football for the first time since 2001.

In an exclusive interview with BestBettingSites, Wright-Phillips highlighted Lampard’s relentless work ethic to recover from the “blip” at Chelsea and reignite his career as a manager at the CBS Arena.

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Hard work

“I think if you know Frank, you know he just doesn’t give up,” he said. “He could be knocked down. He’ll get back up.

“He’ll put the hard work in to become what he needs to become. Right now, he decided that he would become a good manager, and he has worked at that.

“He actually started well at Derby, and there was then the blip at Chelsea.

“But if you look at what happened there, I think any manager would have struggled with what was going on off the pitch.

“He waited patiently for his next option after Everton, and while he was waiting, he wasn’t just sitting on his hands.

“He’d have been doing his research, improving in other ways. He would have figured out where he went wrong in the past and resolved to change the next time.

“He’s put that into practice and he’s got a squad of players that have bought into it and now that they bought into it and they’re seeing the results.

“When you’re a manager, it becomes simpler to get your players to follow your instructions and adhere to your changes if they’re already winning.

“They’re clear at the top of the Championship ahead of the Christmas period. If they get through that busy spell without dropping too many points, then they’re well set.”

Theirs to lose

Reflecting on the Sky Blues’ strong position in the Championship, Wright-Phillips believes they will maintain their advantage over the coming weeks and potentially make the title race all but unassailable as early as the start of the new year.

“I think it’s theirs to lose – I know how hard the Championship is,” Wright-Phillips added.

“Especially coming into this period now, the December period, it’s the toughest part, and people around them will drop points.

“And if they can pick up points while people are dropping points, then maybe by January or February, people could be saying it’s Coventry’s league to throw away.

“At that point, they literally would have to lose every single game to lose the league.

“They could well put themselves in that position if they keep themselves going as they have done so far.”

Full comments from Shaun Wright-Phillips’s interview are available at www.bestbettingsites.co.uk

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