Frank Lampard has been sacked as Everton manager days after suffering another damaging victory, losing 2-0 at West Ham.
The Toffees went into Saturday's clash with the Hammers looking to avoid a fifth defeat in six Premier League matches since the World Cup break. But the reversal at the hands of their fellow relegation strugglers means that Everton find themselves marooned in the bottom three and on the lookout for another manager.
Goodison Park bosses have been forced into action just over a week after supporters carried out a number of protests about the direction of the club. Much of the ire was directed towards those above Lampard, including owner Farhad Moshiri, but it is the manager that has now paid the price with his job.
Speaking after the defeat in the capital, Lampard insisted he didn't fear being sacked.: “I absolutely don’t fear, I’m proud to do the job. I never get that far down the line to fear, I just do my job, I get up every day and think how we can get a little bit better, it’s as simple as that.”
The former Chelsea boss was appointed at Goodison Park at the start of last year, taking over from Rafael Benitez who suffered a similarly galling time on Merseyside. And his first campaign ended in wild celebration as Everton avoided relegation to the Championship with one game remaining.
Lampard described the decisive win over Crystal Palace as “one of the greatest nights of my career.” However, rather than that act as a turning point in their recent fortunes, the new campaign has been much the same.
Defeat to Wolves on Boxing Day - the first game after the World Cup break - heaped pressure on the ex-England skipper. The valiant draw at the Etihad served as a reprieve, but it has proven to be extremely temporary.
Lampard warned that his side would be taking “baby steps” this term after sanctioning the summer sale of Richarlison to Tottenham. The Brazilian scored 10 league goals on his own last term, with the current crop of underperformers only just about eclipsing that combined.
There has also been the chronic injury issues surrounding Dominic Calvert-Lewin, restricting the England international to a handful of appearances all season.
Lampard joins Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel, Steven Gerrard of Aston Villa, ex-Wolves boss Bruno Lage, Ralph Hasenhuttl at Southampton and Scott Parker at Bournemouth to lose their jobs already this season.
It now means that Everton will be on the lookout for their seventh permanent manager since Roberto Martinez left the club in May 2016. In the preceding time, no boss has spent more than two years in the Goodison dugout, with Carlo Ancelotti the only not to be sacked, after he unexpectedly joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2021.
His dismissal now ensures he has been sacked from his last two Premier League jobs, having suffered the same fate at Chelsea in January 2020. Lampard’s first managerial role was with Derby County in the Championship, where he took them to the play-off final, before the too-good-to-turn-down chance of returning to Stamford Bridge was put on the table.
