Frank Lampard faces increasing pressure on his role as Everton manager after the Toffees suffered a dismal defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, threatening their Premier League status.
The Blues produced a lifeless performance in north London to lose 5-0 on Monday night to Antonio Conte’s side. Lampard has now lost four of his five league games at the Goodison Park helm, including all three fixtures away from home with an aggregate scoreline of 10-1.
Everton recorded their sole top-flight win under Lampard during their first home match of the England icon’s tenure. But beating Leeds United 3-0 on February 12 is already a distant memory, with the Merseysiders now 17th in the table and just a point from the drop zone.
Everton do have a game in hand over Burnley in 18th-place and two over Leeds in 16th. But their haul of just 22-points after 25 games is the Goodison outfit’s lowest top-flight tally at this stage of a campaign ever. They also failed to aim a single shot on target at Tottenham.
The night began on a poor foot for Everton at Tottenham when Richarlison blazed an early shot horribly wide. Their confidence then looked shattered throughout, as poor defending let Spurs run rampant to build a commanding three-goal lead in the opening half an hour.
Pressure on Frank Lampard: Who had the shortest managerial reigns at Everton?
Pressure is now growing on Lampard’s position as Everton manager to show progress after defeat at Tottenham further emphasised the threat of relegation from the Premier League.
Farhad Moshiri only appointed the 43-year-old to replace Rafa Benitez on January 31. So, another change in leadership would mark one of the shortest reigns in Goodison history.
On the basis of games managed, W.J. Sawyer has the shortest reign as he did not oversee a single fixture due to World War I. He was also the club’s honorary secretary during his time with the Blues, and played a role in the arrival of Dixie Dean from Tranmere Rovers in 1925.
5) Howard Kendall – June 1997 to May 1998
Howard Kendall enjoyed the fifth-shortest tenure of any permanent manager in Everton’s history so far. The Englishman returned to Goodison for a third spell at the helm in June 1997 after previously holding the reigns between 1981 to 1987 and 1990 to 1993.
His first spell lasted 338 games and included two Division One titles, an FA Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and three Charity Shields. His second tenure also lasted 162 matches, but his final reign only included 42 fixtures after suffering 18 defeats to just 11 wins.
Walter Smith would replace Kendall at Goodison in August 1998 and remained in charge until March 2002. The Scot’s tenure included 173 games, with 56 wins to 67 defeats.
4) Mike Walker – January 1994 to November 1994
Mike Walker replaced Kendall at the Everton helm in January 1994, but would only oversee 35 games in charge. The Toffees elected to move on from the Welshman after 10-months, having lost 18 matches. They also only won six during his tenure for a 17.14% win rate.
3) Sam Allardyce – November 2017 to May 2018
Moshiri opted for a stop-gap in November 2017 after sacking Ronald Koeman after 58 games, with Everton in the Premier League relegation zone following two wins in nine.
The Blues owner would appoint one-game England boss Sam Allardyce and while he did keep the Toffees up with an eighth-place finish, his tenure ended that summer. Fans did not take to the journeyman’s style of play, having favoured very defensive tactics.
In all, Allardyce oversaw just 26 games with 10 wins to nine defeats before Marco Silva replaced him in charge. Although the Portuguese did not prove to be the long-term boss the Blues hoped for, with his tenure ending after 60 games in December 2019.
2) William Edward Barclay – August 1888 to May 1889
William Edward Barclay took charge of Everton 10-years after the club’s formation in 1888 and enjoyed one season on Merseyside. But 11 defeats in just 22 games to nine wins saw that Dick Molyneux came in, with the Englishman coaching 386 matches over his 12-years.
1) Rafa Benitez – June 2021 to January 2022
Moshiri made Benitez Everton’s shortest-serving modern-day head coach in January when he sacked the Spaniard, before hiring Lampard as the Toffees’ sixth permanent manager since he first bought 49.9% of the Goodison natives in 2016. He now owns a 94% stake.
Benitez lasted just six-and-a-half-months as the surprise choice to replace Carlo Ancelotti, who had suddenly left to re-join Real Madrid. The 61-year-old’s appointment drew some backlash from supporters due to his history with Liverpool and a defensive playing style.
Results at first helped to ease the unrest among supporters with Everton going unbeaten in five with four wins. But results nosedived in September with just three wins in 17 games in all competitions to follow. His final game was a 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Norwich.
So, Lampard adopted an Everton side terribly out of form following Benitez’s ill-fated spell as the club’s manager. But the former Derby County and Chelsea boss has struggled to turn to the tide so far. Now, he could set a new record if sacked before Benitez’s 22 game mark.
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