It is the dilemma for any promoted team, especially one going into the intensely competitive English Premier League. How do you build a team that will stay in the top division without casting aside the core of the team that earned a place in the top flight in the first place?
That is the challenge for Frank Lampard, who managed Coventry City to a Championship title, falling just seven times and finishing 11 points clear at the top. Lampard now must try to survive in the Premier League.
"The reality is you see this challenge, more often than not in recent times, means the team go up and it comes straight back down," Lampard told USA TODAY Sports. "I think we have to find our own way to try and stay in the league and hopefully do better and perform
like the Sunderlands and Leeds probably did last year, because they they stayed up relatively comfortably in the end.
"The step up is big. We've already brought in some players that we're very happy with, and we're looking to bring in more to help us. But ... the group that got us there, they also had this incredible spirit and togetherness that I don't want to break up completely."
Yet, there will be players who were key in the Championship who won't play major roles - or already have made way. That's required if a promoted team, even one that was very good in the second division, is going to stay up.
Coventry has signed Ghana midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi for more than £23 million, and it took a similar sum to secure goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, last year's starting goalkeeper who was on loan from Brighton. Nigeria international Taiwo Awoniyi signed this week from Nottingham Forest, giving the attack a player proven in the Premier League, along with 19-year-old forward Sidiki Cherif, one for the future who joins from Fenerbahçe.
More signings could still be in the works. With every new addition, Lampard has to tell other players that they're not in the plans, something he said is, "one of the harder parts of my job. I have to be very to the point. I have to be very straight about it to find the best way to get this team to perform in a league that is the best league in the world.
"I'm determined to do that."
Few will doubt his determination, but there are some who doubt his ability.
A legendary midfielder who won the Premier League three times with Chelsea and played for England at three World Cups, Lampard's transition into coaching started fast. He took Derby County to the promotion playoffs in 2018-19 and was hoovered up by Chelsea. He settled the ship after a rocky start at Stamford Bridge but was replaced midway through his second season.
He then went to Everton, keeping the Toffees in the top division but getting let go as the club fell into a relegation battle the next year.
A quick return as caretaker for a Chelsea in crisis went poorly for Lampard, and his stock was low when he arrived in Coventry in winter 2024.
Getting Coventry back into the top division for the first time since 2000–01 turned plenty of heads, but Lampard signed an extension to stay in charge of the Sky Blues rather than taking another job.
Lampard's first responsibility is to that squad and its supporters, but he hopes Coventry will perform in a way this season that wins over new fans in the United States and beyond.
"People would say to me from the outside, 'Even when you were losing, we always felt that you would come back and win a game.' When people say that about my team that makes me happy, and it's the sort of team that I would like to watch, a team that has that sort of passion and fire," Lampard said. "I think it does reflect the city, it reflects our fan base. It's what made us so strong, a big story over here last year.
"I think that can be our baseline, but also we'll try and entertain with the talent that we have in the squad."
Showing that in the opening match will be daunting, with Coventry traveling to meet current champion Arsenal.
"I'm up for the challenge," Lampard said. "You're going to have to play Arsenal, the best team last year, away from home. You're going to have to play Man City, our third game.
"We understand the levels and we're probably not seen from the outsiders as expected to get anything from those games, so why not take that challenge early on?"
As part of the Premier League's "Coast to Coast Kick Off," the club has a special activation for the Arsenal match in Detroit, which like Coventry has a history as the automotive hub of its nation. The opener, which kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 21, will be shown at a watch party at the Detroit City Clubhouse.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Frank Lampard ready for challenge of Premier League return with Coventry City
