Dan Carter

Tue 3 October 2023 13:10, UK

Frank Lampard has revealed that during his interview to become Everton manager, Bill Kenwright asked him whether he thought a “cockney” could manage the Toffees.

The former Chelsea midfielder took charge of the Goodison club early in 2022 and kept the Toffees in the Premier League later that year, but was sacked just under a year later as the Blues were once again in the midst of a relegation fight.

Sean Dyche took over the reins of the Blues and managed to secure Everton’s place in the top flight for another season, but Lampard has admitted that the culture on Merseyside was different to anything he’d experienced during his playing or managerial career in London.

Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo (3 October) he said: “I think from playing in a London club, you know I’ve got a lot of love for Chelsea and the relationship with the fans, but going to a city like Liverpool, I think even in football terms, it’s a long way and there’s a different culture.

“I think even in social terms there’s a big difference as well and it was one of my fears going in. I remember having a meeting, one of my sort of interviews meetings with Bill Kenwright at the time and one of his questions was, ‘Do you think a ‘cockney’ can manage Everton Football Club?’

“I thought, well I said, ‘what do you think? You’re going to make this decision’. But it wasn’t naive to that.”

Could he?

It’s incredibly hard to sum up Lampard’s time at Goodison Park fairly as the former Blues midfielder had a tough task to deal with. Ultimately he kept Everton in the Premier League but it wasn’t exactly convincing and it looked as though they could have been in trouble again last year if he’d remained in charge.

Whether that is down to character or not is hard to tell, but his comments about the culture of a team do make for an interesting debate when you view the recent appointments at Goodison. Lampard arguably didn’t know what Everton’s culture was and Rafa Benitez couldn’t have been further from what the Toffees’ fanbase would have wanted.

For some reason and it is hard to pinpoint, Dyche seems to fit that model a bit more than the previous two incumbents of the Everton dugout, but if Kenwright had those doubts about Lampard why did he appoint him in the first place?

It will be another task for 777 Partners to navigate should they complete their takeover of the Blues, as they will have to ensure they don’t stray too far from the blueprint of what makes Everton a special club. Hopefully, should they need to appoint a new manager anytime soon, they’ll be a bit more careful in who they choose.

In other Everton news, Jamie Carragher has criticised Everton’s ability to defend corners this season