Frank Lampard leaves Coventry City fan "thrilled" - action involving "huge club" Rangers praised | OneFootball

The former Chelsea man was believed to have been fancied by a Europa League side

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Frank Lampard has taken himself out of the running to become Rangers next manager, in favour of remaining in charge of Coventry City.

The Scottish side are on the hunt for a new boss after dispensing with Russell Martin, and after former manager Steven Gerrard turned them down, Lampard followed suit, according to Alan Nixon via his Patreon page.

Rangers is undoubtedly a big offer, but Lampard has the Sky Blues in wicked form at the top of the Championship, with a goal difference of 20, almost quadruple that of the next best competitor.

We asked our Coventry fan pundit, Chris Deez, just how much of a boost Lampard’s Rangers snub is for the Midlands side.

Frank Lampard picking Coventry City over Rangers is a massive boost

Speaking to Football League World, Chris said: "I'll be completely honest, look, I'm one of those English football fans who likes to make fun of the Scottish Premier League and poke fun at Rangers and Celtic and say things like, ‘They wouldn't even cut it in the Championship or League One’.

"But the reality is that they are both huge clubs with massive history, not just domestic, but European as well. Won tons and tons of trophies between them, and they're just both well-respected, well-known clubs, pretty much all over the world.

"So if Lampard had taken the opportunity to go to Rangers, I'd have been devastated as a Coventry fan, because of how well he's doing for us this season and the unbelievable run of form that we're on at the minute, the way that he's turned us into this unbelievable attacking force that I can't ever remember us being like, certainly not in the last decade or so anyway.

"But I would have also said, do you know what? Fair enough. Can't blame him. It's a big deal. It's more than likely going to be more money. He'd have more money to spend.

"But I think he's learned his lessons from the way that he jumped ship a bit too early from Derby.

"He'd not really achieved much. Obviously, they missed out in the play-offs, and that was unfortunate. They were unlucky. He did a very good job to get them there.

"But, you know, it's probably cliché, and any fan of any club would say this about their manager, but I genuinely think he loves being here, and he loves managing this squad of young, hungry, passionate, determined players.

"He knows that the entire fanbase absolutely adores him, that he's got the complete backing of the owner, that he's going to be backed financially as well in transfer windows.

"So, I'm obviously thrilled. I think it's a great boost for the squad that he's turned down the opportunity, that he's turned down leaving them, that he wants to stay with them.

"And I just really hope that we can carry on this amazing run of form after the international break."

It’s a smart decision from Frank Lampard

While managing Rangers would bring with it the chance to take on Europa League football, a stage Lampard is miles away from with Coventry, he has a good thing going at the CBS Arena.

For the first time on a wide scale, the footballing world is looking at Lampard as a fully-fledged, talented manager, rather than another of England’s golden generation who are trying, and often failing, to replace the football lost in their lives after retirement.

The Sky Blues have been hovering around the lower tiers of English football for decades now; if Lampard can be the man to get them close to a return to the top flight, it’ll be the focal point of his coaching CV.

Whereas, heading into a current Rangers side in crisis, where anything other than consistent, relentless back-to-back wins is seen as failure, it’s not an environment set up for him to go and succeed straight away.

Lampard now firmly has the trust of the Coventry faithful; he’s right to not dash that away and start from scratch at Ibrox, just as things are getting good in the Midlands.