Why dealing with defeat is key for Lampard at Coventry

Why dealing with defeat is key for Lampard at Coventry. BBC Sport columnist Tony Pulis explains why Coventry boss Frank Lampard needs to manage himself as well as his players after their poor start to the season.

What happened

Published3 hours agoManaging a newly promoted team in the Premier League is very demanding, as Frank Lampard is finding out at Coventry. By that I mean you have to try to stay fresh and positive, because invariably you are going to go on bad runs of defeats like Coventry are on, which can drag your mood down. Image source, ReutersImage caption, Lampard's Coventry side have lost all four of their Premier League games so far.

It is a very unusual situation, to go from being in the Championship and winning regularly week after week, to dealing with defeat after defeat. Figure caption, Frank Lampard post-match interview – Coventry City v Brighton & Hove AlbionNew season, nine new managers – which appointments make sense? They only lost seven of their 46 games in the Championship last seasonFind a way of getting everyone back on trackI can tell you now that, whoever you are playing, if you get beaten – and especially beaten heavily like Coventry were by Brighton on Sunday – then it resonates with you.

But it is how he deals with those defeats that will decide what happens next.

The wider picture

Coventry haven't scored a goal yet, and people might look in from the outside and feel the forward areas are an issue for them because the usual thinking is that the centre-forward has to lead the scoring charts, or a wide player or the number 10. Image caption, Coventry are the only Premier League team yet to pick up a point this season. Tottenham are the only other top-flight side yet to score a league goalWhy I was confident Stoke would stay upCoventry have made a poor start but what has happened in their first four games does not have to become the story of their whole season.

Every defeat was taken on the chin, and accepted, but the lads were always ready to go, again and again. Figure caption, Highlights – Brighton ease to victory as Coventry's winless start goes onSurvival is success for every promoted teamIt was Steve Coppell who said to me how you have to deal with the fact you are going to lose a lot of games – or at least not win a lot of them – when you take a team up into the Premier League.

But getting your head around that is hard, and it is the same for the players who were part of that promotion – especially if you were dominant like Coventry were last season. It's the highest level, not just for the technical ability of the players that your team faces but also the sheer physicality that these players possess, and it feels like the gap to the Championship is getting greater every season. From my experience in the same situation, you have to be really smart in the way you approach each game and recognise the importance of preparation for each specific opponent, because your team has to be organised in possession, and definitely out of possession.

What has been reported

Teams in the Premier League counter-attack with greater efficiency so being solid behind your own attacking play is absolutely vital. But the real advice I would give to managers in Frank's shoes is to manage yourself, and your own time, as well as your players. For Frank, whether it is losing at home to Hull or Brighton, or against Arsenal and Manchester City, then it will hurt. Being the leader of a group of young men, you cannot look washed out and empty on a Monday morning after a heavy loss.

Yes, inside you will be hurting and your pride will be taking a bashing but everyone at the club will be waiting for your reaction, and will act accordingly. Walking into the training ground in a dark mood and with your head around your backside just does not work, irrespective of what you are feeling inside. I've been in that situation many times myself as a manager and what you have to do is puff your chest out and find a way of getting everyone back on track and working even harder with a set focus on the next game.

It is draining at times, but that is why managing your time and prioritising the issues that you can resolve is so important.

What happens next

When I took Stoke up to the Premier League in 2008, I was learning on my feet. We did not make a great start and I had to roll my sleeves up and get on with what I'd got in my squad, and really focus on getting results. But away from that I was always forward thinking and I was quick at recognising what was needed to improve our chances of staying up. When the window opened again in January, we were already in discussions with Tottenham for Matty Etherington, to supply us with crosses and chances from the wing.

We needed more goals too, so I took James Beattie from Sheffield United. They were a Championship side but that didn't matter because he had a record of scoring goals in the top flight. We have heard so much about recruiting the right players in the right positions, and it is true today as it was in my day.