Everton manager Frank Lampard has invited UFC star Molly McCann to deliver a team to his players ahead of the Premier League season.
McCann is a huge Toffees fan and regularly sports the club's colours and the badge on her training kit. She continued her recent rise in the UFC with a sensational stoppage victory of Hannah Goldy in the opening round at UFC London.
During her post-fight interview in the octagon after the win, McCann joked about her club's relegation battle last season during a conversation with UFC legend Michael Bisping. She said: ”It’s those walk-outs, it’s that energy that you bring, which gets you finishes, To see everyone else on this card who didn’t want it as much, they let you down. I will not let you down. I’m not Everton Football Club! Up the f****** Toffees.”
McCann has since revealed she talks to Lampard regularly about the club, and is optimistic the club won't be dragged into bother at the wrong end of the table. “I’m going to be optimistic because if you have a negative mentality it will make it even worse,” she said during an appearance on the talkSPORT Breakfast when discussing the Merseyside club.
“I speak to Frank [Lampard] a little bit now and he says he’d love me to come in and tell them my stories to the boys and my stories to him. I think the players pulled up the scruff at the end of last season and had a go. It’s just the board now.
"When I referenced ‘I’m not Everton Football Club, I won’t let you down’, that was more towards the board and not the coaching and technical staff and players. They will be hearing from me anyway if they start playing rubbish.”
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It will be Lampard's first full season at the helm at Goodison Park, and he will be looking to bring in some more incomings during the final stages of the window to boost the clubs chances of avoiding a relegation battle. The Toffees have already drafted in Burnley defender James Tarkowski, and reports have also suggested they could raid the Clarets again with an acquisition of his former teammate Dwight McNeil.
Everton spent a large portion of the season in the Premier League's bottom five last season but ultimately beat the drop. The club recently lost 4-0 to MLS side Minnesota United in an ominous pre-season warning, which suggests there is work to be done before the new campaign.