(Credit: Breaking media/Manh Tung)

James Barker

Sat 18 April 2026 10:10, UK

Everton may be keeping a close eye on how Frank Lampard and Coventry City fare in the Premier League next season, as David Moyes‘ long-term future remains uncertain.

Lampard and his team are the talk of the Championship right now, as their promotion to the Premier League was confirmed on Friday night.

Indeed, the Sky Blues earned a 1-1 draw away at relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers in front of the Sky Sports cameras, which was enough to end their 25-year Premier League exile.

Coventry have been far and away the best team in the Championship this season, earning Lampard a major boost to his reputation as a manager following some tricky years in the dug out prior.

One of those was spent as Everton manager, but his 12 months at Goodison Park didn’t quite go to plan for the Chelsea and England icon.

Frank Lampard could be Everton’s David Moyes replacement

Appointed as Everton boss in January 2022, Lampard arrived at Goodison Park to find a Toffees team in desperate need of help.

Former manager Rafa Benitez had left the side sitting in 16th and just four points above the Premier League relegation zone, having won just once from his 13 games in charge.

Over the course of the next 18 Premier League games in that 2021-22 season, Lampard succeeded in his mission to keep Everton in the league, finishing 16th on 39 points, four above Burnley in 18th respectively.

That saw him retain his position for the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign, but after a dismal start with just three wins from 20 league games, he was eventually sacked in January 2023.

Fast-forward to the present day, however, and Lampard now looks a much more refined and better coach for having had that Everton experience, and will no doubt ensure his Coventry team give the top flight a real go next season.

What this could also present him is the chance to prove exactly that to Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs, especially given the fact that Moyes is out of contract in the summer of 2027.

Moyes isn’t getting any younger at 62-years-old, and will have turned 63 by the end of April, and only he knows how he’s feeling about taking the Toffees on beyond the 2026-27 season.

So, should Lampard enjoy an impressive campaign back in Premier League management next term, Everton chiefs may feel ready to hand him a second chance as Moyes’ potential replacement.

How good have Lampard’s Coventry been this season?

After losing out on the chance of promotion in the play-off semi-finals last season, Lampard had laid the groundwork for this type of 2025-26 season after taking over as Coventry boss in November of 2024.

Having completed shrewd-yet fairly minimal transfer business to bring in the likes of Carl Rushworth, Frank Onyeka, Lampard and the Sky Blues didn’t splash the cash in order to bulldoze their way to the Premier League.

Instead, he showed his coaching nous by adding a couple of starters where he felt his City side needed them, but largely worked with the same group of players as last season, coaching them into the team we saw from them this term.

That’s a big green flag in terms of Lampard clearly taking significant strides in his coaching, improving players enough to finally get the football club over the line, after multiple near misses over the last few years.

Coventry have been ruthless in attack and solid in defence, and so the signs are there that should Everton have a second chance, Moyes-sized succession plan in mind for him, they would be getting a much better version of Lampard than last time.

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Goodison Park.