Everton are now a selling club because ‘the money has gone’ – Phil McNulty
Frank Lampard is not the problem at Everton when the board have “wasted” the club’s money and left them with a “Frankenstein’s monster” squad, says Phil McNulty.
The Toffees boss is clinging to his job currently with the team in miserable form and back in the relegation zone, after the former Chelsea boss just kept them up last year.
Fans are revolting against the running of the club as the January transfer window ticks past without the much-needed attacking signings yet materialising, with most fury directed to the hierarchy, and BBC chief football writer McNulty can see exactly why.
Asked by Paul Salt on BBC Merseyside on Monday morning (9 January, 7.54am) if the board deserve the ire of the fans, he replied: “Absolutely, they’re the ones who have been there through the years of chaos… Farhad Moshiri, Bill Kenwright, [Barrett-Baxendale] they are the people now the fans have honed in on as the constants in this failure.
“Now, there really is a groundswell of discontent with those three individuals, and I perfectly understand the fans’ feeling. They’ve been fed a chaotic club for the last few years.
“They cannot escape responsibility or blame… I sensed from Friday [6 January at Old Trafford] that there wasn’t a great deal of dissent against the manager… but against the board of directors.
When Salt enquired about the financial issues being a problem in the transfer market (7.57am), McNulty added: “Exactly, Everton cannot afford to pay big money for players at the moment and they are back to being a selling club.
“We saw Richarlison go in the summer to Spurs for £60million, and the money was reinvested but not in the right area.
“When they sold Richarlison they had to a striker lined up. They could not, because of his recent record of fitness, rely on Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
“Unfortunately, as transfer spending is concerned, the money has gone and a lot of it has been wasted. In fact the vast majority of it has been wasted.
“You now have this Frankenstein’s monster of a squad.
“To suggest Frank Lampard is Everton’s problem is stretching reality to breaking point.”
Hospital pass
The Toffees boss can’t go without any scrutiny of course when the side that he had playing at least moderately well early in the season has fallen off a cliff.
But if the list of managers before him collectively all saw the club gradually move backwards despite the extensive investment in their teams then it seems little surprise that Lampard is now struggling with nothing like the same support.
Without Richarlison Everton would have been relegated last season so to sell him for a large fee and essentially replace him with Neal Maupay and Dwight McNeil is to take a big risk.
The defence has been strengthened with James Tarkowski and Conor Coady, but for free and on loan, while Amadou Onana is the headline arrival of the summer window.
But the manager needs attacking help with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in and out of the side with injury and Anthony Gordon going through his difficult second album face already.
McNulty has been critical of the Everton board for much longer than it has been fashionable, and yet throughout that time the same mistakes have been made and the situation has got worse.
It is no wonder the fans have had enough, and it is difficult to see any long-term reconciliation with the situation having got this bad, especially with Moshiri apparently ignoring the criticism.