One of Sunderland’s Championship rivals look set to hire a manager who was linked with the Stadium of Light job during the summer.
Sunderland’s managerial search seems like a bad dream now. The Black Cats went four months without a permanent manager in place and saw several key candidates slip away in the summer.
After the club sacked Michael Beale in January, Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus seemed determined to appoint Will Still, who instead moved to RC Lens.
Then, Liam Rosenior was heavily linked with Sunderland before he too opted for a move to Ligue 1, taking control of Strasbourg.
A horde of other names were linked with the Stadium of Light job in the pre-season. But Sunderland eventually appointed Regis Le Bris who’s since done a fine job in the Championship.
He has the Black Cats sitting in 3rd place of the Championship table after Sunderland drew 0-0 with West Brom on Tuesday night.
Frank Lampard ‘closing in’ on Coventry City job after Sunderland links
Now, one name who was linked with Sunderland in the summer is reportedly close to taking over at Coventry City – Frank Lampard.
During the summer, Sunderland were loosely linked with Lampard as their managerial search kept on running into obstacles.
It never seemed like Lampard was a serious contender, however. The former England midfielder has been out of work since a spell as Chelsea’s interim boss in 2023, with Lampard having been tipped for the England job earlier in the season.
Now though, Sky Sports report that 46-year-old Lampard is ‘closing in’ on the Coventry City job and that ‘an agreement in principle has been reached’.
Before their Championship clash against Sunderland earlier in November, Coventry City sacked Mark Robins after seven years in charge.
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Frank Lampard’s managerial record at Championship level
Lampard has had quite a turbulent start to his managerial career, starting off at Derby County in 2018.
He guided the Rams to the Championship play-off final in his first season in charge, losing to Aston Villa in the final and then leaving for Chelsea.
Spending a year-and-a-half at Stamford Bridge, Lampard was axed and a year later became Everton manager, where he lasted another year.
In the Championship though, Lampard has a solid record. He placed Derby County in 6th in his sole season managing in the second tier, with his side putting an impressive 74 points on the board.
So for Coventry City, they have a somewhat proven, albeit inexperienced Championship manager, and a big name who could really help tempt some top players to the club in January.