Frank Lampard has revealed what he really wanted to change when he joined Everton.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, the former Toffees manager opened up on his arrival at Goodison Park and spoke of the club’s ‘consigned’ attitude to relegation.
Everton hadn’t finished lower than 12th in the Premier League in 18 years before Lampard’s arrival in January 2022.
With 18 games remaining in the season, the 45-year-old joined Everton even though they were only four points above the bottom three. Lampard acknowledged that there was a lot of discontent on Merseyside regarding the Toffees’ future in the Premier League, despite the fact that this was just the beginning of the club’s decline.
Lampard told Sky Sports, “The amount of Everton fans who work behind the scenes, the kit men, the people there – everybody there is Everton.”
“It almost seems like there are good and terrible things about that. The wonderful thing is that they experience it firsthand, adore it, and crave the club as a result. However, there were occasions when they expressed scepticism, saying things like, “Oh, we’ve been here before, this is going to be a tough season.” As a fan, I do it.
“I was surprised by the extent of that; I’m not referring to the supporters; I was surprised by the extent of being relegated,” the speaker said. There was an almost pervasive sense of desperation about the club. That was the area I felt I needed to work on improving the most. We need to lose this, I told the players and staff in a number of meetings.
With just one game left in the season, Lampard eventually led Everton to safety, preserving their 68-year Premier League membership. But he faced the same challenges the next year, and a year after his appointment, he was fired.
Now, Everton supporters only anticipate a relegation fight.
Before the 2021–22 season, the Toffees had not actually been in relegation contention for a very long time, but things had appeared to be declining.
It was only a matter of time until things got really bad for the fans who had to put up with lousy transfers and unimpressive ownership.
Frank Lampard was one of the unfortunate targets at Finch Farm; he is debatably unfit to serve as manager in the Premier League.
It won’t change significantly at Everton until then; whether their impending takeover will be the difference is yet to be seen. There will still be the same vibe and the same fast leaving management.
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