Everton, penultimate in the Premier League, confirmed on Monday evening that they had parted ways with their coach, Frank Lampard.
“The determination and dedication of Frank and his team (his assistants are also leaving the club, editor’s note) has been exemplary throughout their time at the club, but recent results and the current position in the table means that this difficult decision had to be taken,” the Toffees wrote in their statement.
Everton remain ten games without a win in all competitions, including two defeats against direct rivals for the maintenance race, (2-1) against Southampton and (2-0), Saturday at West Ham.
These two setbacks dropped the other club Liverpool to 19th place, level on points with the red lantern, Southampton, or 15 in 20 days.
The interim will be provided by Paul Tait and Leighton Baines, who were respectively Under-21 and Under-18 coaches, while Everton found a successor to Lampard.
According to the British press, the two names tipped to sit on the bench at Goodison Park are Marcelo Bielsa, former coach of Marseille and Leeds, and Sean Dyche, former coach of Burnley.
– “These things are not my responsibility” –
Lampard, 44, was appointed less than a year ago to replace Spaniard Rafael Benitez.
Last season, the club had narrowly ensured its maintenance by finishing in 16th place.
But the club’s problems go far beyond Lampard’s case. Despite heavy investments in the transfer market, and apart from a few months under the orders of Carlo Ancelotti, who had abandoned them to return to Real Madrid, Everton have never managed to invite themselves into the race for Europe. which he dreams of.
The last matches have been the scene of increasingly vehement protests from supporters, who are demanding the dismissal of the entire management of the club.
“These things are not my responsibility,” Lampard said on Saturday when asked by Sky Sport about his future. “My job is to work, concentrate and keep my head down,” he added.
A former iconic Chelsea player from 2001 to 2014, author of numerous goals for a midfielder (177 goals in 609 Premier League matches), Lampard notably won three league titles, four FA Cups, a Champions League ( 2012) and a Europa League (2013) with the Blues. He has 106 caps (29 goals) for England.
Reconstructed coach in 2018, he led Derby County (second division) for a season before returning to his former club Chelsea, as successor to Italian Maurizio Sarri, who left to coach Juventus.
After a successful first season (4th) and qualification for the Champions League, the next was more complicated, until his dismissal in January 2021 when the “Blues” were only 9th in the standings.
Of the 44 matches led since his arrival on the Everton bench, Lampard has a record of only 12 successes for 8 draws and 24 defeats.