Sacked by Chelsea, Lampard is heading for Everton axe
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 13 Mar 2022 17:43 GMT
- 4 min read
Just 14 months ago, the 43-year-old was sacked as Chelsea manager. He was dismissed at the end of January 2021 after a dreadful run of form saw the club fall to ninth place in the Premier League table.
Having spent €250 million at the start of the 2020-21 season on big-name signings such as Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy, this was deemed unacceptable for a club expected to challenge for the Premier League title.
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Lampard was replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who proved to be a revelation at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel led the club comfortably into the top four and ended the season by leading Chelsea to a Champions League triumph. In the space of just over a year, the German took Chelsea to four more finals – winning two and losing two.
No one could deny that the decision to sack Lampard had been the correct one.
Fast forward a year and Lampard was given the chance to prove he could still make it as a manager at the top level.
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He was appointed as Rafael Benitez’s successor at Everton on January 31 with the club down in sixteenth position, four points above the relegation zone.
However, the Englishman has had a dismal start to his career at Goodison Park.
Lampard has won both of his FA Cup matches, defeating Brentford 4-1 on his debut and Boreham Wood to book Everton’s place in the quarter-finals.
But in the Premier League, things have gone from bad to worse. Lampard has lost five of the six league matches he has been in charge of.
FT. pic.twitter.com/rqcEGrCjbJ
— Everton (@Everton) March 13, 2022
He has been defeated in Everton’s last four Premier League clashes, conceding nine goals and failing to score even one.
The latest setback saw Everton lose 1-0 at home to Wolves on Sunday, with Conor Coady heading home the winner in the second half.
Once again, Everton created virtually nothing in attack – the exception being Richarlison hitting the woodwork.
It proved to be a bad day at the office for Lampard as relegation rivals Watford won 2-1 at Southampton, while Leeds beat Norwich 2-1.
This means Everton are now in 17th position. They are level on 22 points with 18th placed Watford and only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
The only positive for Everton is they have three games in hand on Watford and on Leeds above, although the latter are four points clear of them.
But based on their current form, it is hard to see where they can pick up points.
Less than two months after taking the job, the odds on Lampard getting the sack have plummeted.
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It should be noted that not all the blame can be pointed at Lampard. The club is in a mess institutionally with a squad that was poorly constructed in the transfer market.
Lampard’s predecessor Benitez ended his reign with nine losses, two draws, and just one win from 12 games.
Everton are clearly in freefall. Relegation, with or without Lampard, is now a real possibility.
