Frank Lampard exit fear at Coventry City eased as Southampton FC manager news comes to light | OneFootball

Coventry City supporters will be able to rest easier following recent Southampton developments

Coventry City supporters may feel more assured about Frank Lampard’s future following recent developments.

The Sly Blues have emerged as the Championship’s team to beat this season, after missing out on promotion in the play-off semi-finals last term.

Fast, flowing and attacking football has left Coventry’s opponents watching on as they have raced into an early lead at the top of the table and look formidable as they charge towards a return to the Premier League.

After 15 matches, Lampard’s side are five points clear of Middlesbrough in second and have a further two points back to Stoke City in third, which leaves them in a healthy position to fight for automatic promotion.

Operators such as Haji Wright, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Victor Torp have all enjoyed standout starts to the season, with Coventry’s attacking power something to behold.

They have scored a whopping 40 goals thus far, which is by far the division’s highest total. Ipswich Town and Hull City come next with 26, which highlights just how strong the Sky Blues have been.

However, fears began to emerge that all the good work Coventry had done could potentially be at risk.

Coventry City will be relieved at how Southampton’s manager hunt has developed

After a poor start to the season, which included just two wins in 13 Championship matches, Southampton made the decision to relieve Will Still of his managerial duties at St. Mary’s.

A search subsequently ensued to find the Saints’ next boss and Lampard was quickly reported as one of the names highest up on their shortlist.

Although Coventry find themselves in a much better position than Southampton currently, the South Coast outfit have spent much of their recent history in the Premier League and therefore enjoy the finances that come with that.

Coupled with their first-class infrastructure and academy system, the Saints may represent a better bet for success in the long term than Coventry, which may have appealed to Lampard.

John Eustace made a similar move last term when swapping play-off hunting Blackburn Rovers for relegation-bound Derby County and made it work, which would’ve struck fear into the hearts of everyone involved with Coventry.

However, as time has passed, a feeling of relief may have slowly started to emerge instead. Southampton have ultimately decided to pursue other targets and are now reportedly considering appointing U21s boss Tonda Eckert on a permanent basis.

It now seems almost impossible that Lampard would leave Coventry for a club much further down the Championship and means that supporters at the CBS Arena don’t have to worry about their promotion bid going to waste.

If the former Chelsea midfielder had made a move to the Saints it would’ve been a huge gamble and one that ultimately may never have paid off, given that the South Coast outfit have now spent two of their last three seasons in the second-tier.

Southampton would’ve benefitted greatly from Frank Lampard’s expertise

Whilst Coventry avoided the predicament of having to replace their manager in the middle of a Championship title charge, Southampton are having to come to terms with the reality of a potentially elongated stint in the second-tier.

There would’ve been hopes at St. Mary’s that they could’ve enjoyed a swift return to the Premier League, but that doesn’t appear to be on the cards after how they have performed this term.

Appointing Lampard could’ve massively helped them in potentially soaring up the division, given he has the crucial experience of carrying out a similar task with Coventry last season.

The Sky Blues were 17th in the table when the former Chelsea boss took over as manager in late November, but found themselves fifth after 46 matches after enjoying a positive spike in performance under their new manager.

Southampton find themselves in an almost identical situation and with more resources to use in January, there is no reason why Lampard couldn’t have repeated that task.

However, he has chosen to remain at the CBS Arena, which is a huge positive for Coventry but is a blow for the Saints, when it is imagined what they could’ve achieved under his rule.