Impatience is everywhere. On social media, even 30-second clips now tease the best bit at the very start before going back, no longer trusting our distracted minds will stick around to watch the video in full.
Elsewhere, Londoners shout expletives when the next tube is five minutes away, we all get hangry waiting for our number to swap from the “Preparing…” to “Please Collect” column at fast-food chains, and don’t get us started on those temporary traffic lights. Why are they even there? We’ve got places to be.
Impatience is rife in football, too. VAR, of course, and while owners are seemingly quicker on the trigger these days, this restlessness applies to managers as well.
Frank Lampard being the prime example.
In another world, or perhaps decades ago, Lampard would have done the hard yards at Derby, spending a few years with the Rams before moving up the ladder.
It perhaps would have been 10 or more years into his managerial career before he landed his dream job at Chelsea, and perhaps in that world he would have been ready.
Instead, all too eager to say yes to this great of gigs as one of Chelsea’s greats, he took the job after just a year at Derby. It was too good to turn down, but he was out of his depth.
That first full season at Chelsea happens to be his last full season anywhere, a damning indictment of his career since. He was sacked by Chelsea in January 2021, took charge of Everton in January 2022, and dismissed by the Toffees in January 2023.
A brief interim spell at Chelsea followed, which has nothing to do with a January, but it was a favour that turned sour and did his reputation no help – he lost eight of the 11 games in charge – meaning it was not until November 2024 he took on his next job at Coventry City.
Lampard has therefore lived out a full managerial career already, but at just 47 this impatience can now work in his favour. He has the chance to prove people wrong and could yet be the one member of England’s “Golden Generation” who succeeds in the dugout.
Most have turned to punditry, while Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have seen their own managerial stock plummet, leaving Lampard best placed to rebuild his reputation and even become a future England contender – and who knows, maybe even Chelsea again.
But that requires time, and this time, patience. At Coventry he now has the opportunity to manage a club for a full season for just the third time.
That would mark a six-year first if he makes it to May next year, by which point Coventry will hope Lampard’s start in the Midlands translates into a second-straight push for promotion.
Since the start of 2025, only promoted Burnley and Leeds United earned more points than Coventry, and after agonisingly losing late on to Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals, they are among the leading contenders with bookmakers to return to the Premier League.
Their start, though? Properly meh. A 0-0 draw at home to Hull City on Saturday, which left Lampard disappointed by the opportunities missed.
Frank Lampard on today's goalless draw with Hull City.
— Coventry City (@Coventry_City) August 9, 2025
“I think you could tell they were very happy with the draw,” Lampard said, with Coventry recording 17 shots to Hull’s seven, although they ended with three shots on target apiece.
“Not easy to break down and maybe with the (lack of) sharpness at the top end of the pitch in the first game of the season it can be a difficult game for different reasons.”
Coventry’s need for a clinical striker was laid bare. It has become a repeated plea from their supporters, with Brandon Thomas-Asante doing little to inspire their fanbase.
The benefit of an early August start is that the club at least have the remainder of the month to address this issue before the transfer window closes.
They were, after all, dominant against Hull, hitting the post through Milan van Ewijk’s fine effort as Tatsuhiro Sakamoto twice went close and Jack Rudoni saw an attempt deflect wide.
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Keeping Rudoni also appears to be vital. Newcastle United and Southampton have been linked with the 24-year-old midfielder, who recorded 10 goals and 13 assists in all competitions last season and was named the club’s player of the year.
A goalscoring midfielder, you say? This is where Lampard’s own experience could be telling as Coventry battle to keep him.
“There’s really no-one better to learn from, and I think you can see how my game has improved since he’s come in – numbers-wise and performance-wise – in the second half of the season,” Rudoni said last month.
“It’s been a joy to play under him and the staff, and I look forward to carrying that on.”
Lampard will need to make sure this joy remains until the window closes, and if he can convince Rudoni to stay, then maybe the manager will see for himself what can happen when the desire to rush to the next step is swapped for a more patient approach.
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