Everton trust in Frank Lampard could disappear completely if results don’t improve
Everton could lose trust in Frank Lampard completely if results don’t pick up in the second half of the season, write The Guardian.
The Toffees currently sit one point above the relegation zone with just one win in their last nine games in all competitions, despite spending heavily in the summer on eight first-team recruits.
But after back-to-back defeats to Bournemouth before the World Cup break, Guardian journalist Andy Hunter believes more bad results could see fans lose all trust in the manager before he hits his one-year anniversary at the club.
“One of the major plusses of the Everton manager’s 11-month reign has been the reconnection between crowd and players after the divisive days of Rafael Benítez and the disillusionment that had set in before his ridiculous appointment,” he wrote (26 December).
“The union was critical to the club’s Premier League survival last season. To see it unravel at the Vitality Stadium was confirmation that goodwill has limits and that Lampard must correct form fast to avoid another campaign fraught with relegation danger.”
Tough times ahead
There is little doubt that Frank Lampard has reunited the club with the fan base and bridged that gap that had been missing for a while before his arrival.
The connection is present once again, with fans feeding off the players’ performances on the pitch and the players responding to the passion with good performances for the most part.
But the problem is that once results don’t go the right way and problems rear their ugly heads again, fans can be quick to turn. With relegation looking like a possibility again, fans have every right to ask questions.
A loss to bottom of the table Wolves, who will have their new manager in charge for the first time, is surely a sign that Everton should be worried, but Lampard is likely to have the January window at least to correct things.
If he is backed then he can turn it around, as he did last season, but if he isn’t, then it could be problems for everyone going forward.