MY ACCOUNT
Frank Lampard has not seen success during his time at Everton and was on the end of another disappointing defeat on Tuesday.
The Toffees went down 4-1 at home to Brighton and a chorus of boos met the former Chelsea manager as the full-time whistle went.
Everton are in the midst of a relegation battle in the Premier League — just one point above the bottom three and with every team below them having a game in hand.
With a potential sacking on the horizon, we take a look at where it has been going wrong for the 44-year-old.
A risk not worth taking
Everton’s head coach has been building up his resume over the last few years having had stints at Derby and Chelsea but his toughest test was always going to come at Goodison Park.
Attempting to fill the void left by Carlo Ancelotti — who jumped ship to return to Real Madrid — and the axed Rafa Benitez, Lampard was tasked with securing European football.
And although he came in and maintained the club’s Premier League status last season, patterns are repeating themselves once again.
Everton have won just three times in the league in 2022-23 and have six losses, averaging 0.83 points per game.
Lampard’s win percentage of 20% ranks among the worst in England’s top flight and is hugely below his career average of 44%.
Furthermore, his side are conceding more often and scoring less — on average Everton ship 1.4 goals per game and find the net just 0.8 times.
Sombre signings
It was evident that Lampard needed to do a lot in the summer transfer window but the best he could do was sign Amadou Onana in a deal worth £33.5million.
The loss of Richarlison to Tottenham left a tremendous gap up front but the club decided to bring in Neal Maupay for a cut price rather than replace the Brazilian’s quality.
Idrissa Gueye returned to Everton following a stint at Paris Saint-Germain but at 32, his impact will be short-term.
With 14 arrivals and 14 departures, Lampard never really deepened his squad — five signings came with a fee and the rest were a combination of free transfers and loans.
And although Onana, Gueye, Maupay and Dwight McNeil all feature regularly in his starting XI, they have yet to show enough quality to move the Toffees clear of the drop zone.
Eight managers, nine years
Alan Shearer has expressed his sympathy for Lampard, who is the eighth manager in nine years on Merseyside.
The Toffees are clearly in a downward spiral and this was evidenced by the recent defeat fashioned by individual mistakes.
Speaking after the game, Shearer said: “Frank’s the eighth manager in nine years, permanent manager, as well as a couple of caretaker stints. That tells you, it’s a mess of a football club, from top to bottom.
“Can eight managers in nine years, can all of them be wrong? Three or four might be, but eight? I get in previous years, they have spent an absolute fortune and wasted an absolute fortune. But who has been buying those players?
“Now it looks like not a lot is available, in terms of finance, for whatever reason. Who thinks it was a good idea to splash the cash on bang-average players for ridiculous amounts of money?
“If you want to use a football club as an example of how not to spend, then use Everton — it seems from the outside that everything is fragile.”
Weight of expectation
Everton’s best spell in the Premier League era came under David Moyes when they were regular challengers for the European places.
Since the Scotsman left for Manchester United, the first team has never really been settled and the poor recruitment is finally catching up to them.
With plans for a new stadium finally approved, the club will find themselves in a similar situation to Tottenham, who believe a shiny fortress should bring success and silverware.
However, trophies do not go hand in hand with a 60,000-seater building but rather with investment on the pitch.
If Everton are going to achieve anything significant, especially under Lampard, then there needs to be a series of changes at the club.
For the man in the hotseat, it is a case of doing what he can to lift the spirits of the faithful Evertonians who are fed up of mediocrity.
