Everton sack struggling Lampard as another relegation scrap beckons

Frank Lampard has been sacked by Everton under a year after taking charge of the Premier League strugglers, Stats Perform understands.

Lampard was appointed as Rafael Benitez’s successor on January 31, 2022, but less than 12 months later Everton are now on the search for yet another manager.

The former Chelsea boss managed to keep Everton in the top flight last season, with a dramatic 3-2 comeback over Crystal Palace in their penultimate match proving enough.

Yet Everton’s struggles have carried over into this campaign and, with 20 games played, they sit 19th on 15 points following a 2-0 defeat to fellow strugglers West Ham on Saturday. They have lost eight of their last nine matches in all competitions.

Everton’s next manager will be their seventh permanent appointment since Farhad Moshiri, who was in attendance at London Stadium, invested into the club in 2016.

After Saturday’s game, Moshiri told Sky Sports a decision on Lampard’s future did not rest in his hands, a statement that will only have fuelled more anger in a fanbase already protesting about the way in which the club has been run.

Lampard’s record is poor. He has won only nine of his 38 Premier League matches, meaning his win percentage (23.7) is better than only that of Mike Walker (19.4) when it comes to Everton managers to have overseen at least 10 games in the competition.

However, Everton have also been hamstrung by financial difficulties caused by previous misspending.

Last season’s top scorer Richarlison was sold to Tottenham in June of last year to appease Premier League profit and loss regulations, and the void left in the side has been clear, especially with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injury issues.

Lampard’s team have also struggled in defence, leaking 59 goals across his league matches in charge over the past 12 months.

This season, only Fulham (36.1) have a higher expected goals against (xGA) figure than Everton (34.2) in the top flight, suggesting they have been fortunate not to concede more tha than the 28 goals they have shipped.

Everton have not made a signing in January, but are reportedly close to confirming the loan acquisition of Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma.