Premier League: Everton Appoint Frank Lampard to replace Rafael Benitez

Frank Lampard became Everton's leading candidate after a board meeting and interviews on Friday night to decide Rafael Benitez's successor; former Chelsea boss was formally offered the job on Saturday; Duncan Ferguson and Vitor Pereira were also interviewed during the final round of talks

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Sunday 30 January 2022 22:02, UK

Image:Frank Lampard is back in the Premier League with Everton Everton have appointed Frank Lampard as their new manager on a two-and-a-half-year contract to replace the sacked Rafael Benitez.

Lampard became the leading candidate on Friday after Everton held a final round of talks with their candidates, and was formally offered the job on Saturday.

Former Swansea and Derby County manager Paul Clement will be Lampard's assistant manager.

As well as the former Chelsea and Derby boss, The Toffees spoke to Vitor Pereira - who exclusively told Sky Sports News on Wednesday that he wanted the job - plus Duncan Ferguson, who was placed in caretaker charge after Benitez's departure.

What's in Lampard's in-tray at Everton? Everton fixtures | Results Premier League table Get Sky Sports | Live football on Sky Sports

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri flew into London to hold talks with all three candidates.

Lampard had been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in January 2021 with the club ninth in the Premier League.Prior to his 18-month spell at Chelsea - who he led to an FA Cup final and a top-four finish - Lampard spent a season at Derby, which ended in defeat to Aston Villa in the play-off final. Everton had been searching for a successor to Benitez after he was sacked earlier this month in the wake of their 2-1 defeat at Norwich.

The former Liverpool manager had been in charge at Goodison Park for less than seven months.

Everton sit 16th in the Premier League and are just four points above the relegation zone having won one and drawn three of their last 14 matches.

'Lampard has a massive job on his hands' Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol speaking on Friday:

"Frank Lampard has all the potential to be a great manager of the future. I would think if he does accept the job, if he does become the next Everton manager it will be very exciting, but let's not underestimate he would have a massive job on his hands.

Kaveh Solhekol explains why Frank Lampard will have a very difficult job on his hands at Goodison Park "He would have gone from the relative stability of Chelsea where Chelsea are owned by Roman Abramovich and are run on a day-to-day basis by Marina Granovskaia - so that is a very settled structure - and he would be going into a situation at Everton where there are different sorts of factions in charge of the club.

"The fans are very, very unhappy so he does have a major job on his hands but of course, the first job that he has got is making sure that Everton remain in the Premier League, because speaking to Everton supporters, they are saying, 'look, the way this season is going, there is a real danger it could end in relegation.'

"The other problem Frank Lampard has got if he does become the Everton manager is the transfer window is about to close. It closes on Monday, he hardly has any time to sign any players.

"Everton need reinforcements, especially in midfield. Is he going to have any time or has been told that players are coming in the next 72 hours? So make no mistake, a massive job for Frank Lampard if, as looks likely, he does become the next Everton manager."

Everton rank bottom for high turnovers in the Premier League this season, while they’re one of four sides yet to take advantage of such situations Rooney: I turned down Everton interview On Friday, former Everton striker Wayne Rooney revealed he turned down the chance to talk with the Toffees about their managerial vacancy because he wants to stay as Derby boss.

Rooney said: "Everton approached my agent and asked me to interview for the vacant job, which I turned down.

"I believe that I will be a Premier League manager and I believe I'm ready for that 100 per cent, and if that is with Everton one day in the future that'd be absolutely great. But I've got a job here to do at Derby County which is an important job to me."

Wayne Rooney reveals he turned down the opportunity to talk to Everton about their vacant manager role Asked if it was a hard decision not to speak to Everton, Rooney added: "Yes, of course I did [think hard about it].

"They got in touch with my agent and my agent let the administrators know as well. Of course it was a very difficult decision for me."

Everton Q&A: Why are the fans protesting? <img src="https://e0.365dm.com/22/01/768x432/skysports-premier-league-everton_5651030.jpg?20220124114109" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw" srcset="https://e0.365dm.com/22/01/384x216/skysports-premier-league-everton_5651030.jpg?20220124114109 380w, https://e0.365dm.com/22/01/768x432/skysports-premier-league-everton_5651030.jpg?20220124114109 760w, https://e0.365dm.com/22/01/1600x900/skysports-premier-league-everton_5651030.jpg?20220124114109 1024w, https://e0.365dm.com/22/01/2048x1152/skysports-premier-league-everton_5651030.jpg?20220124114109 2048w" alt="Everton fans want to see a change at the top" /> Image:Everton fans want to see a change at the top How are things going at Everton?

Not well. The Toffees are 16th in the Premier League having secured 19 points from 20 matches, with the side starting 2022 with three Premier League defeats.

A 2-1 loss to embattled Norwich was the final nail in the coffin of long-disliked manager Benitez and came just days after the club allowed France international Lucas Digne to join Aston Villa .

Fan favourite Duncan Ferguson took temporary charge but failed to steer Everton to a much-needed victory, with Aston Villa winning 1-0 at Goodison Park on Saturday with Digne providing the assist.

What is the current mood in the fanbase?

Fury fuelled by a need for change. Before Saturday's match, a plane flew over Goodison Park calling for long-standing chairman Bill Kenwright's departure, with the trailing banner reading "22 years of failure, Bill. Time to go".

There was more anger on display after the final whistle as around 150 fans stayed behind to protest, chanting "Sack the board", "Bill Kenwright, get out of our club" and "We want our club back".

Frustration has continued to be expressed since then, with a number of supporters congregating outside the Liver Building - where Everton's commercial offices are based - before another protest took place on Wednesday night outside Goodison.

Unsupported location Everton fans put up banners against the club's board while another wrote a graffiti message after it emerged Vitor Pereira had become one of the favourite to take over from Rafael Benitez What issues are there at the club?

Everton have no manager, director of football, head of recruitment or scouting chief, with few trusting those at the top of the club to make the right decisions and improve things.

The club have been owned by Farhad Moshiri since 2016 and the Iranian businessman certainly cannot be faulted for his financial backing, having already spent over half-a-billion pounds on transfers since his £200m takeover in 2016.

Last week he committed another £100m to the club after increasing his stake to 94 per cent but he has consistently made poor decisions. On Wednesday, fans voiced their objections to potential new manager Vitor Pereira, agent Kia Joorabchian - reportedly advising Moshiri - and Kenwright.

Everton's next fixtures February 5: Brentford (H) - FA Cup

February 8: Newcastle (A) - Premier League

February 12: Leeds (H) - Premier League

February 19 : Southampton (A) - Premier League

February 26: Manchester City (H) - Premier League, live on Sky Sports

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