Everton initiate review of poor performance, immediate improvement work under way – Sky Sports
Everton have initiated a review of the “poor performance” at the club and have begun steps for an “immediate improvement”, Sky Sports reports.
Frank Lampard is under major pressure as manager after losing against another relegation rival in West Ham on Saturday (21 January), with talkSPORT reporting on Sunday that “crunch talks” had been held with Farhad Moshiri.
The owner was present at the London Stadium along with the under-fire board to witness the latest loss, and it appears that significant developments might now be under way as a result.
Sky Sports reported via Twitter on Sunday afternoon (22 January): “Sky Sports News understands Everton are reviewing the poor performance of the club and taking steps to bring about immediate improvement.”
In the accompanying update on the Sky Sports website it added that Lampard was “clinging on to his job” after the defeat at the London Stadium, and that Moshiri’s appearance “felt hugely significant”.
Mark McAdam followed up, speaking live on Sky Sports News (4.52pm), to call it: “Significant news for Everton fans… You can read between the lines of that short statement there, that’s the news that Sky Sports News are being told with regards to the current situation at the football club, but it all points towards potentially things changing.
“This is a story that is of course developing over the course of this weekend.”
Change?
If it has taken until now for the board to review the poor performance around the club then they can’t have been paying much attention for the past three months.
It also seems that there aren’t many mirrors around the board room since it is hard to argue that poor decision-making from there has continually compounded problems for a long time.
Whether those in charge work hard or mean well no longer makes a difference when their work has seen the club fall into back-to-back relegation battles.
It looks like Lampard is in line to take the fall, and as a Premier League manager (and a former Chelsea player) he will know as well as anyone that is how it works in the top flight.
But changing him won’t solve the problems that he is working against, even if he is no longer part of the solution to them.
For the club to be in a position to sack their manager during the January transfer window amid protests against the board in consecutive seasons shows quite how depressing the situation is at Goodison Park.
This may be the latest briefing from the club to give the appearance of doing something about the issues, but the vagueness of the language means judgement will have to be researched until there is some real action taken.