Everton have sacked manager Frank Lampard after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by West Ham left them 19th in the Premier League and without a win in 10 matches in all competitions.
Lampard’s dismissal follows Everton owner Farhad Moshiri attending his first match since October 2021 as the Toffees succumbed to defeat at the London Stadium – their third consecutive defeat in the league.
The former Chelsea boss arrived at Goodison Park in January 2022, and although he helped the club avoid the drop last season, he leaves Everton with 15 points from 20 games and three wins this term – the worst victory record in the division.
Everton are 19th in the table, with only Southampton below them on goal difference.
Everton fans protested against the club’s hierarchy as Jarrod Bowen’s double condemned their team to defeat but the board have instead responded by dismissing Lampard.
Speaking to Sky Sports News after that defeat, Moshiri said “it’s not my decision” when asked if Lampard’s time was up, while the head coach insisted he remained focused on the challenge at hand in his final post-match interview.
Speaking after Everton’s defeat at West Ham on Saturday, club owner Farhad Moshiri said ‘it’s not my decision’ regarding Lampard’s future
“It’s my job to work and focus and keep my head down,” Lampard told Sky Sports. “I’ve got absolute confidence in how I want to coach. And if they are difficult conditions at the minute, for a lot of different reasons that I’m very aware of, then that’s it. I just have to do my job and it’s not for me to make too many diversions around it rather than talk about what I can affect and that’s the players, trying to get the right results.”
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson told Soccer Saturday that he didn’t believe Lampard had lost the commitment of the players – but questioned the quality of the players at Lampard’s disposal.
“They’re not not trying for Lampard, it’s nothing to do with that,” said Merson. “Sometimes you look at players and think, ‘they’re just waiting for the manager to go and then they’ll start running around again’. They work hard. But they’re just not up to it at the moment.
“They keep on losing to all the teams around them, that’s the worry. They’ve lost to Wolves, Southampton and West Ham in three of their last five games.”
Farhad Moshiri watched Everton play West Ham at London Stadium
Everton’s next six fixtures
February 4 – Arsenal (H), kick-off 12.30pm
Feburary 13 – Liverpool (A), live on Sky Sports, kick-off 8pm
February 18 – Leeds (H), kick-off 3pm
February 25 – Aston Villa (H), kick-off 3pm
March 4 – Nottingham Forest (A), kick-off time TBC
March 11 – Brentford (H), kick-off time TBC
More to follow…
