The remarkable Championship table since Coventry appointed Frank Lampard

Only the Championship’s top two, Leeds United and Sheffield United, have picked up more points than Coventry City since Frank Lampard was appointed back in November.

Mark Robins was controversially dismissed after the Sky Blues made a slow start to the 2024-25 campaign. He’d taken the club up to the Championship from League Two over the course of his seven-year, second stint.

Coventry were then a whisker away from making it back to the Premier League, having lost the play-off final to Luton Town in 2022-23, while last season they were even closer to making the FA Cup after the most marginal of VAR offside calls denied them a famous comeback victory over Manchester United at Wembley.

Given those achievements, Robins was always going to leave big shoes to fill. And there were question marks over the appointment of Lampard, whose fledgeling coaching career took a couple of tumbles, having been sacked at Chelsea and Everton.

Lampard’s reputation wasn’t done much good by his last stint, having suffered a disastrous run of results (one win and eight defeats in 11) after returning to Stamford Bridge as a caretaker manager for the final weeks of the 2022-23 campaign.

But things couldn’t have gone much better for the 46-year-old former England international since he was appointed as Robins’ successor.

Coventry have won 11 and lost just four of the 18 Championship games that Lampard has taken charge of.

That run of results have seen Coventry rise from 17th in the Championship table, two points above the relegation places, up to fifth.

A thrilling 3-2 victory away to Oxford United was their fourth successive league win and sees them well-placed for a serious top-six push in the run-in. The table remains congested, but should Coventry keep up this form they’d approach the play-offs with real momentum.

Lampard suffered play-off final heartbreak in his first managerial role as Derby County lost 1-0 to Aston Villa back in 2019, but he’ll be dreaming of going one better this season after returning to the second tier.

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Here’s the full Championship table since Lampard arrived at Coventry in late November:

1. Leeds United – 40pts, GD +31 (Played 18)
2. Sheffield United – 38pts, GD +8 (Played 18)
3. Coventry City – 36pts, GD +8 (Played 18)
4. Burnley – 35pts, GD +19 (Played 17)
5. Sunderland – 32pts, GD +6 (Played 18)
6. Queens Park Rangers – 30pts, GD +7 (Played 18)
7. Bristol City – 27pts, GD +6 (Played 17)
8. Blackburn Rovers – 27pts, GD +2 (Played 18)
9. Portsmouth – 27pts, GD -2 (Played 20)
10. Norwich City – 26pts, GD +2 (Played 18)
11. West Bromwich Albion – 25pts, GD +6 (Played 18)
12. Preston North End – 25pts, GD +3 (Played 17)
13. Middlesbrough – 23pts, GD 0  (Played 18)
14. Sheffield Wednesday – 23pts, GD -3 (Played 18)
15. Millwall – 21pts -5 (Played 18)
16. Oxford United – 21pts, GD -7 (Played 17)
17. Watford – 20pts, GD -5 (Played 18)
18. Cardiff – 20pts, GD -7 (Played 17)
19. Hull City – 18pts, GD -4 (Played 17)
20. Swansea – 18pts, GD -10 (Played 17)
21. Stoke City – 15pts, GD -12 (Played 17)
22. Luton Town – 13pts, GD -12 (Played 18)
23. Plymouth – 13pts, GD -16 (Played 17)
24. Derby – 9pts, GD -14 (Played 18)