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Frank Lampard breaks his silence amid future at Everton and job speculation with other managers

Frank Lampard breaks his silence amid his future at Everton and the ongoing job speculation with other managers especially in recent weeks.

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou is just one of those linked with replacing the former England and Chelsea player, having impressed since been appointed at the Scottish giants and securing the Premiership title in a domestic double in his first campaign.

His attacking Hoops side returned to the Champions League this season and it was a case of not making the most of their big chance as they crashed out of Europe altogether after finishing bottom.

But his side are hopeful they can turn their focus back to the top table once again next season and hold a nine point gap over Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s challenging Rangers as they go into the World Cup break.

The 57-year-old was praised by many pundits for his attracting style of play and manner with dealing with the press along with his record in the transfer market a good looking trait to such teams as Brighton, Japan and now the latest, Everton, linked during his short time in Scotland.

Lampard, who some feel are surprised he still has a job at Everton, admits talk over his future is just part and parcel with the job he has taken and says he is good at not paying attention to outside noise.

It’s becoming hard to ignore the ‘outside noise’ however if fans are making themselves heard and seen so much that we recall those scenes last week where Everton fans lost their cool at Lampard and the players after losing to Bournemouth – a league and cup defeat to them in the same week.

He said: “When you take this job you understand that talk is going to come, particularly if you take on a job like Everton, and where we were last season.

“There’s a bit of a process to try to get us back to where we want to be, The Premier League’s so competitive it means that you go through these patches.

“I’m pretty good at not paying too much attention to (coaching rumours), just understanding what it is.

“You go from one week from being best manager in the world after an amazing result to (the opposite) – it can go both ways.

“It’s fine. I’m fortunate to do the job I do, and I’m fortunate to have had a really long playing career. It gives me good context. I try to stay pretty level headed.”

Frank Lampard said now was the time for him to maintain a level head as he tried to prevent Everton from being dragged into another relegation battle.

Asked for his thoughts on the prospect of another tough season, Lampard also hit out at claims he would be among the first top flight managers to be sacked. He said: “What is the reality of football? You have to work hard to try and get a step [forward] and then a step. We were in that for a reason last year and one transfer window where we lost a big player for us is maybe not going to put us in a position to go ‘it’s all fine now’. The Premier League doesn’t work that way. We have to keep working in the meantime to get results.”

Lampard acknowledged supporters who had set out on a 500 mile round trip to Bournemouth, twice in a week to watch defeats at the Vitality Stadium, were justified in their disappointment and questioned the lack of intensity from his players in the 3-0 league defeat. He accepted the speculation and scrutiny of top level football was part of his job but said it was his responsibility to look beyond that and stay calm in order to plot the best way to help Everton climb the table.

He said: “I think everyone put us in a relegation battle, that’s all I read pre-season – it was like ‘Everton are in this battle’. I was favourite to be sacked. Five managers have gone, that’s the nature of the beast of what we work in so what we have to do now is keep our heads down and keep working and try and show reasons for how we can amass points because the picture changes quickly. Two weeks ago people were talking about top half of the table. Now people are looking downwards. So I am the first one who has got to stay pretty stable on that I would say.”

Everton have been at the centre of media speculation surrounding their current form in the Premier League and potential replacements for Frank Lampard ever since the end of last season.

According to Football Insider, the Toffees have made the decision to stand by Lampard to give him time to turn the season around.

As per the report, sources have claimed that despite having an eye on other managers, namely Marcelo Bielsa and Belgium boss Roberto Martinez, the club have made a U-turn on that notion and decided to give the manager the opportunity to fix the problems the team are facing.

They are now just one point clear of the relegation zone going into the World Cup break after having a good start to the season and at one point were in contention for a spot in the top half of the table.

Lampard’s side have now lost three out of their last five fixtures having scored just four times.

Keeping the faith in the 44-year-old manager will likely divide the Everton faithful with many supporters making their feelings very clear after the defeat to Bournemouth.

After already appointing six new permanent managers in as many years, some will feel that stability is something the club is desperate for right now.

Currently, Lampard is tallying up just one point per game and has a win percentage of an grim 23.53% in 17 games, compared to his predecessor Rafa Benitez it makes for concerning reading.

He averaged 1.18 points per game and had a win percentage of 31.82% in 22 fixtures which although unimpressive, is considerably higher than Lampard’s over five more games in charge before he was sacked in January 2022.

NEXT PREMIER LEAGUE MANAGER TO BE SACKED

Frank Lampard – 4/9
David Moyes – 3/1
Graham Potter – 8/1
Jesse Marsch – 12/1
Steve Cooper – 12/1
Antonio Conte – 14/1
Brendan Rodgers – 25/1

Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin was one of several players singled out for criticism by talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan in the aftermath of their defeat at Bournemouth.

“We were reading our notes on Alex Iwobi and he’s one of the few players who actually has done well for them,” said Jordan on talkSPORT. “If the fans are throwing his shirt back at him because of his individual game I think that’s a little disappointing.

“I’ve been very condemnatory of Alex Iwobi. If I was Arsenal and somebody offered me £35m for him I’d have sent him round in a cab, but he’s gone and done well in recent times for Everton. I think despite the fact he’s not a world beater he’s been an honest player for Everton.

“Here we are with Frank Lampard and I’m not entirely sure. Looking at the squad of players, when you’re signing players that Brighton don’t want, and I know Brighton are a very good side, you’re taking away a perceived goalscorer in Neal Maupay. You’re looking at Dwight McNeil from relegated Burnley and you’re looking at Demarai Gray who does it in flashes, what are you expecting? You’ve got your centre-forward on the front page of GQ holding a handbag. What do you expect?”

Fans reacted as Frank Lampard breaks his silence amid his future at Everton and job speculation with other managers…

@ChrisPickles24: Can’t see this going down well at all…

@Tombarney93_: Wanted him to do well but I think #LampardOut has to happen now, 3 wins in 16, 9 wins in 9 months, 5 away games in a row goalless. Inexcusable.

@ElliotB1878: Proper Rafa vibes 12 months ago these quotes

@MatthewQ: Not good enough, we deserve better 👍🏻

@matteusjack: Im sure it does take time , only problem is that evertonians ate very impatient and want immediate success

@Kevin_1878: Dont mind any rebuild once we show signs of promise and a slight improvement in one year of being here but we’ve arguably gotten worse. But some our fans and the media give him the easiest time ever. A lucky man.

@gregorallan9: Excuses. Deflecting again. You at least start to see something in a rebuild, but we’re not and the data shows that. Individual performances have helped us get points this season. Needs to be a huge improvement, as we shouldn’t even be in a relegation battle again.

@bluetom_tom: Not good enough this

@TheEvertonEnd: I think if Lampard stays in charge we’ll likely go down. We are currently at the stage of ‘can’t keep sacking managers’ which is the worst excuse for not getting rid of a manager. Fingers crossed for a change. 🤞🏼

@teadrinker68: ‘Evertonians are very impatient and want immediate success’. It’s been 28 years.

@MaxAnnated: Is he going out of his way to wind us up? Hand picked staff, top 10 squad good facilities bought players. Fans kept us up he nearly blew that at Watford btw. 0.7 gls a game, most shots conceded. Awful to watch, crab possession spent in our defensive third. We should be rioting!

@Forever_Everton: After 15 games Lampard has 4 less points than Rafa at this stage of the season. Frank also needs 5 points from the next 2 games (City & Wolves) just to match last seasons ‘run rate’. If we continue as we are below last seasons run rate we will be down…. Simple as that!

@EfcSl: Got one of the worst forward lines in the league, if you can’t score, you’re going to be in trouble. FL not helped himself at times with systems and subs. But he or anyone else can only do so much

@ScottCTomo88: Fuck. My. Life

@kieranEFC_: Manager admitting we are in a relegation battle after 14 games. Even if that’s true you don’t admit that get him gone with these low expectations.

@PaulNagle3: I think the World Cup saved Frank Lampard another couple of defeats he wouldn’t have survived. Now he has a chance to get Everton back on track and continue his rebuilding plan……..

@Wagsefc: IMHO, there are still too many players either too unreliable (eg Mina), past their best (eg Coleman) or not good enough (eg Keane, Davies, Rondon). In addition to getting the right players in, Lampard also has a fair few to move on. Not easy. Needs at least three windows. #UTFT

@67bab: Like pushing 💩 up a hill with the board we have at Everton!

@Jamesfreedman25: Praying that if we can upgrade our front 3 we can go back to 4-2-3-1 rather than what is essentially 4-1-5

@bardz17:
Not good enough
We deserve better

@Stewer19861: He’s doing a fantastic job. He just needs time. Everton can’t just keep sacking people. He gets the fans.

@Gre9orypeck09: When building you have to make progress. We’re making no progress.

@Toffeebluebloo1: Honestly don’t think the bar was set much higher than last season & that’s why we are where we are. Must be so good to always use being shit last season as an excuse.

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