"Start building a statue" - Claim made on Frank Lampard at Coventry City | OneFootball

The former Derby County manager has worked wonders in a short amount of time since taking over at the CBS Arena.

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...

The decision to sack Mark Robins in November was condemned by many across the footballing world, and Coventry City supporters had more than enough right to be shocked and a little bit dismayed at the decision.

While the Sky Blues had not enjoyed a good start, to say the very least, the current Stoke City manager had been excellent for the club and many thought he deserved more time to try and turn the situation around.

Nevertheless, he was relieved of his duties after a 2-1 defeat to Derby County at home, with Frank Lampard coming in to replace him a few weeks later.

Since then, Coventry have climbed the table at a rate of knots and there is a realistic ambition to finish in the play-offs after it had originally looked as though a relegation battle was about to ensue.

Verdict issued on Frank Lampard's start to life at Coventry City

The Sky Blues were 17th in the Championship table when Robins was sacked, level on points with Plymouth Argyle in 22nd, with only their superior goal difference keeping them out of the bottom three.

There was not much hope around the CBS Arena, but that did not mean many wanted their now ex-manager to be sacked. However, football is a results-based business and the decision to appoint Lampard in his place has been a masterstroke.

The 46-year-old has won eight of 15 league games in charge, losing only four of those in the process. Their home form has been particularly impressive, with only Championship leaders Leeds United running out winners in CV6 since he took over.

Football League World has asked their Coventry Fan Pundit, Chris Deez, if Lampard has surpassed all expectations in his first three months in charge.

He told FLW: "Frank Lampard has absolutely smashed through and surpassed all of my expectations, and I was not a doubter at all. But I didn't think he would come in and have this much of an impact this quickly, especially as he inherited the same squad that Robins had.

"We’ve had a fairly bad injury situation; it’s not quite a crisis but key players have been out injured. He has performed miracles with Mason-Clark, and he’s turned him into one of our key players. He’s injured at the minute, but when he comes back, he will be straight into the team and hopefully he can pick up where he left off.

"Lampard has dealt with Ben Sheaf being in and out of the team really, really well. He brought in Matt Grimes.

"Although he only brought in one player in January, which was a little bit disappointing, it does look like Grimes, after only one full appearance, is going to be an asset for us, he looks absolutely brilliant. I can see why Swansea fans were so upset at losing him. He seems like a bargain at £3.5m.

"Lampard has had a rough time of it. He did a really good job with Derby. He did an even better job with Chelsea, but for some reason football fans don't like to talk about that. I don't know what the issue is."

Chris continued: "I don't know if people don't like Lampard, or if they don't like him seemingly getting jobs because of who he is and who he was as a player and his name a bit like Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney? But so far, so good. The man is doing an incredible job. I will happily start building a statue for him already.

"I think we've got a genuine chance of pushing for fifth or sixth spot, anything higher than that is pretty much out of the question for any team in the top half because there's such a big gap to the other teams from fourth upwards.

"But he’s absolutely smashed all expectations. I thought he was going to come in and do well, I was excited to see what his style of play would be and how he would put his stamp on the team, and I'm very, very happy to say that he has.

"He has come in and just done an amazing job so far in such a small amount of time."

Coventry City are one of the form teams in the Championship and that's thanks to Frank Lampard

Form at any point in the season is important, but finding it while others around you struggle for consistency is crucial and Coventry are doing exactly that.

Only Leeds have taken more points in the last six games than the Sky Blues, and this has seen them have a meteoric rise up the table.

Now 10th, Lampard's side are just three points behind West Bromwich Albion, who occupy the final play-off spot. However, they do now have a tough clash against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on the horizon.

A victory against the Owls would be sensational for Coventry, and their top six ambitions will only strengthen.