New Coventry boss’ success could depend on Chelsea legend’s DOG

FRANK LAMPARD will probably split his time between London and digs in Coventry as the Championship club’s new manager.

For most people, this is a minor issue, but for superstitious Lampard, it could have quite some bearing upon him in his new role.

As Chelsea boss way back in 2019, the club’s all-time greatest goalscorer and hugely decorated midfielder revealed just a few of the extraordinary habits he believes are vital to keep the positive results flowing.

One of those is taking the exact same route while walking his dog around the same park.

He explained that he would visit the same coffee shop first thing, then wait patiently for his beloved pooch to do her ‘business’.

Then it would have to be following in his well-trodden footsteps for the same distance. In his mind it is pivotal to his team’s fortunes.

There is also the precise 50 minutes on an exercise bike - no more and no less - that forms part of his routine to protect a winning run.

His great mate, co-coach and confident Jody Morris later Tweeted that these were just two minor examples of his friend’s OCD.

Lampard is 46 and about to join his fourth different club as a manager.

From cutting his teeth at Championship Derby, he seemed destined to manage his beloved Chelsea, although the experience turned sour quickly, as it tends to do at Stamford Bridge.

Losing a play-off final, saving Everton from relegation, laying the groundwork for Chelsea’s second Champions League triumph in 2021 form part of his CV.

There’s a great coach inside Lampard waiting to get out.

All of his three previous clubs had their respective issues that went beyond the dugout.

Whether it was Derby’s cash crisis, Everton’s ownership nightmare and Chelsea’s ruthless demand for glory that pushed sentiment to one side, some things are out of a manager’s control.

The fear is that it might be the same for him at City. The brutal sacking of legendary boss Mark Robins gives Lampard big shoes to fill.

On a bigger scale, Unai Emery and David Moyes found that out to their cost at Arsenal and Manchester United.

Last season, Coventry were denied an FA Cup final by the cruelty of VAR and a ruthless offside decision.

The comedown from that and the failure to reach the Championship Play-Offs has clearly played a part in Robins’ departure.

Lampard was a Chelsea legend when he was given the manager’s job too soon in his career.

Even then he admitted his popularity with the fans would last ‘two minutes’ if he didn’t deliver from the dugout.

He finished fourth in the Premier League and took them to an FA Cup final against Arsenal in his first season.

He was adored by the fans for promoting the academy players he had watched develop while studying for his coaching badges at his old club.

When Chelsea were in crisis the season before last, he answered a call and went back as interim boss for 11 games - walking away lamenting the malaise that had set in in the dressing room.

Coventry City is a big club in the doldrums. Lampard’s reputation as a player and his impressive worth ethic could quickly get them firing again but in reality it all depends on his dog.