Frank Lampard has made a defiant statement about his job following Everton’s latest loss in the Premier League.
The Merseysiders are on the verge of being relegated from the Premier League for the first time since the league was founded to succeed the FA First Division in 1992. This is, in no small part, thanks to how Lampard and the board have handled the club.
The Toffees have to battle confidence issues and deal with fan vitriol which has stemmed from Lampard’s managerial skills as well as the club’s board and their handling of affairs.
Nothing seems to be working for the former Chelsea and Derby County manager, who has won only nine of the 38 games he has managed in the league since taking over in January 2022 from club icon Duncan Ferguson, who served as the interim coach after Rafael Benitez was sacked from the job at Goodison Park.
His job has long been the subject of speculation and while he has mostly brushed the questions of his future aside, he seems to have taken a stand on the matter.
This is inferred from his post-match comments following another damning loss on the road to West Ham United, whose two goals helped them escape the relegation zone and cement the Toffees’ place there.
The former West Ham youngster said to the media after watching his boyhood club beat Everton: “Fans are realists, they have watched the team over the last few years. History moves and nothing gives you the right to be in their league, we have seen huge football clubs go down.
“If you don’t move you will hit tough times, we are in tough times and everyone has to try to move forward.
“I didn’t see that (fan protests). The fans support us and travel a long way for us. It was a strange game, we had a load of control possession wise but the killer instinct in their team was better than ours. In terms of the tactical control, we had a lot.
“It is a big job, I knew that when I took the job because we were looking at a relegation battle then. We had a big fight and stayed in the league. We lost Richarlison and now have tried to build around that so it is normal we are fighting again, when other clubs are trying to move on.
“I don’t want to tell how Everton fans how to feel, my job its to give everything in the job here. We had a lot of possession, but were short in the final third.
“It is impossible for me to jump into the future, last season we were five points shy of safety with five or six games to go but as a club we have to move together. I cannot complain about the spirit of the players and how they approached the game. They may have passed it slow but we didn’t find it in the final third.”
