Lampard confirmed as contender for Coventry job

Bookies' favourite Frank Lampard has been out of the managerial scene since leaving Chelsea at the end of the 2022-23 season

Coventry City owner Doug King has confirmed that Frank Lampard is among the contenders for the Sky Blues head coach's job following last week's sacking of manager Mark Robins.

At an hour-long Fans Forum at the Coventry Building Society Arena, King faced some searching questions from impassioned supporters and stated the club had received a number of applications with the next appointment being "very important".

In a separate interview with Sky Sports, King revealed that former Chelsea and England great Lampard had applied for the position.

"We've received a huge amount of CVs from high quality people, of which Frank is one," King said.

"We've done nothing on that process. Clearly we're in the international break. We'll be assessing everything.

"We'll work out who's going to make the shortlist and we'll go from there."

Lampard has been out of management since his short-term return to Stamford Bridge as caretaker manager ended after the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.

He has previous experience of the Championship having led Derby County to the play-off final in 2019 before going on to work at Chelsea and Everton in the Premier League.

Lampard is the current odds-on favourite with bookmakers, while former Sky Blues striker Robbie Keane has also been listed as a potential contender, following his time in the Indian Super League and with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which ended in June.

Ex-Coventry midfielder Lee Carsley, the current England Under-21 coach, whose role as interim boss of the full England men's team is scheduled to come to an end next week, has been linked, along with Matt Bloomfield, boss of League One leaders Wycombe Wanderers.

Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio on Saturday: "I've not heard anything from my club. It's just speculation as far as I'm concerned. But it's lovely to be linked with jobs higher up the food chain because it shows that the job you're doing is the right one."

When advertising the vacancy, following the decision to part company with Robins last Thursday morning, the club said that it would, "take its time to appoint a successor to Mark, although the position will be that of head coach working within the new structure set up by the club over the last two years."

King made joint first-team coach Rhys Carr caretaker boss for Saturday's trip to Sunderland.

After coming back from 2-0 down to draw with the league leaders, King confirmed on Monday night that former Wolves development coach Carr will remain in the post until a permanent successor has been found.

City's next game is the lunchtime home date with second-placed Sheffield United on Saturday 23 November.