Frank Lampard has insisted he would never seek reassurances over his job as Everton manager after Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion brought fresh speculation about his future.
Goodison Park turned toxic after Everton conceded three goals in seven second-half minutes to slump to a dispiriting defeat which dragged them into a Premier League relegation battle for the second successive campaign.
Although the focus now shifts to the FA Cup ahead of Friday’s third round tie away to Manchester United, the pressure is firmly on Lampard with pivotal league games coming up against Southampton and West Ham United.
The Everton manager, who has presided over 36 league games, winning nine and collecting 35 points during his one-year tenure, met with director of football, Kevin Thelwell, and also the CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale on Wednesday to plot a course forward. Lampard said the nature of the conversations would remain private, but added he did not need a vote of confidence to assure him he can save his position.
“I will never and would never seek reassurances,” Lampard said. “It’s part of my job to focus on the job in hand, day to day, game to game. I don’t need reassurances. I come to work to try to improve a bit every day – myself, the team, the squad and everything. I’m not hunting around for any reassurances.
“I came here nearly a year ago now and my feeling when I came in was Evertonians thought we were heading for relegation. We managed to have an incredible time together to stay up. I lived that moment with the fans. I went home that night and had a glass of wine and thought this is where the work begins.
“Why were we in that battle? We are in that process. I am not silly. We need results. We have slipped into the bottom three. I can’t affect anything other than that. I was well aware (of the situation) when I came into this job.
“As a player and manager I have always looked at myself first and foremost. That is what all the players have to do. Can we get more from ourselves? Yes.”
Lampard added that the club’s league position was not his immediate concern, saying he was focused on a longer-term process. “If we win the next league games, we’ll be out of the bottom three probably,” he said. “It’s part of the process. I’m very aware of what I came in to do in this job. I want to be a success at this club.
“Any challenges that come along, then I’ll take them on and actually enjoy them. I enjoy working for this club, it’s a real honour for me. That’s why I say ‘I don’t need reassurances’. I’m a big man working for a great club and I’ll keep doing it.”
'We need to improve squad'
Everton’s problems stretch back much further than the 12 months Lampard has been in charge and many fans have directed their anger at the club’s board for what they perceive as years of mismanagement.
Lampard took over last January after the ill-fated appointment of Rafael Benitez, inheriting a club that was 16th in the table at the time. Despite what the league table might say, Lampard insisted he has brought about improvement in the time since.
“I wasn’t expecting huge change,” he said. “Every improvement would be step by step and then maybe one day you go, ‘Oh, here it is, here’s what it looks like’. But in my opinion, yes [there’s been improvement].”
Everton will now look to the January transfer window to help them take the next step. Lampard would not be drawn on links with Aston Villa’s Danny Ings, but an attacking player is a priority “Both options are on the table in terms of loan or buying players,” he said. “I’m never going sit and talk about finances because I can’t give you the detail.
“We want to improve the squad in January but my job is first and foremost to work with the players we’ve got and try to get a result against Manchester United and Southampton. If we can improve and help the squad, great. It’s not an easy window, everyone knows that but certainly we’ll try to improve the squad because it feels like we need that for sure.”
Lampard confirmed Everton would be without Nathan Patterson for the trip to in-form United after the full back suffered medial ligament damage against Brighton and faces six weeks out. Anthony Gordon remains a doubt through illness but Yerry Mina has recovered, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin must also be assessed after suffering with fatigue.