Frank Lampard and Coventry City are back in the big time.
Eighteen months at the Sky Blues has allowed manager Lampard to reinvigorate the club – and himself – as they return to the Premier League after a quarter of a century.
Friday's 1-1 draw at Blackburn clinched promotionwith three games to spare, with Coventry now focused on winning the Championship title.
Lampard's reputation was bruised after a 12-month battle at Everton and a brief caretaker spell at Chelsea, where he won once in 11 games.
Previously at Stamford Bridge, he became head coach in 2019 when the club were under a transfer embargo and took the Blues to fourth in the Premier League and an FA Cup final in his first season.
Having missed out in the play-offs at Derby in 2019 and failed to establish longevity at Everton and Chelsea, has Lampard now silenced his critics, and what does this mean for his career?
During his caretaker reign at Chelsea, Lampard was open about picking his next job carefully.
As he returns to the top flight it looks like he chose perfectly.
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Early arrival and squad breakfasts
Coventry had hit the wall when Lampard arrived. Mark Robins guided them from League Two to the brink of the Premier League, losing on penalties in the play-off final to Luton in 2023.
Robins' reign also included an FA Cup semi-final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United, but Lampard needed to reinvigorate the club.
On his first day in November 2024 he gathered the squad and all the staff at Ryton, including the chefs and cleaners, to tell them they were better than the table suggested.
He took over when they were 17th in the Championship, beating John Eustace to the job, with the season ending in a dramatic late play-off semi-final defeat by Sunderland.
Lampard's assertions proved correct, but the loss was difficult for the squad to recover from, especially with minimal changes in the summer.
Defenders Kaine Kesler-Hayden cost £3.5m from Aston Villa and Luke Woolfenden arrived from Ipswich for £4m, but only goalkeeper Carl Rushworth has made a significant impact after arriving on loan from Brighton.
Players have joined because of Lampard's influence, moving to CBS Arena when they have had other options, to work with the 106-cap former England midfielder.
Coventry also kept their best players, rebuffing Sheffield United's bids for Bobby Thomas while Milan van Ewijk stayed despite Wolfsburg interest.
The Blades made several offers for Thomas but Lampard made it clear he wanted the defender to stay and has forged a strong bond.
Those close to the squad have described Lampard as humble and knowledgeable – his personable nature took some players by surprise when he joined, given his decorated career.
Lampard usually arrives at Coventry's Sky Blue Lodge training ground about 7.30am and uses the gym before having breakfast with the squad. He will give the players time to talk.
The transition from Robins to Lampard was fluid as the squad's age started to drop. The older players had a good relationship with Robins, but when Lampard arrived the younger members – who grew up watching him play for Chelsea and Manchester City – gelled with him quickly.
He has trusted them to go on nights out – there is another planned at the end of the season – and has encouraged Coventry's internationals to play for their countries, rather than ask them to stay and put the club's promotion ambitions first.
More than just a manager
Topping the table with essentially the same squad highlights Lampard's powers of recovery. It has allowed him to finally feel like a manager first, rather than player, for the first time when he has been speaking with staff.
To observers Lampard seems more comfortable in his skin at Coventry, not carrying the weight of expectation and his legend at Stamford Bridge, where he is Chelsea's 211-goal record scorer.
His move to the Sky Blues has also been viewed as smart, being allowed to repair any possible scars from Everton and Chelsea away from the Premier League glare.
Some inside Coventry feel the club needed him, and Lampard needed the club, a statement which is hard to disagree with given the end result.
Forward Jack Rudoni is one who has flourished under Lampard, having joined Coventry from Huddersfield for £5m five months before the head coach arrived.
He has scored five goals in his past seven gamesand 15 of his 17 strikes for the Sky Blues have come under Lampard.
"People just see him as a gaffer because they don't know him as a person but he's more than just a gaffer," he told BBC Sport. "He has a great relationship with everyone – he's a good person as well.
"You can come to him with anything and he will sit there and talk to you and give you advice whether it's football or not. There's no-one better to learn from – he's been brilliant with me on and off the pitch.
"He and I have a good relationship, and we talk closely. He's always helping me with little bits and pieces, timing of runs, areas to get into, even down to shooting techniques and stuff we spoke about.
"He's been brilliant, and it's great to have someone of that quality that can guide me and give me tips, and I'm just happy it's worked out for me on the pitch, which then kind of repays him working with me with the results."
Now Lampard's attention will turn to building a Coventry squad that is capable of competing in the Premier League, ensuring the Sky Blues' return to the top flight for the first time in a quarter of a century is not short-lived.
