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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Andy Dunn

Everton should take punt on Frank Lampard - at least fans won't call for sack immediately

If nothing else, Everton have given Vitor Pereira a claim to fame.

He must be the only manager to complain about fans wanting him to get the sack before he has even been hired.

Talk about getting off to a flyer.

But if you conduct your business through the super-agent channels in Mayfair, then word gets out.

If Farhad Moshiri had wanted Pereira as his sixth new permanent manager, he should have just done it.

Done it before anyone had a clue Pereira’s appointment was a possibility.

Surely it now has to be a non-starter.

Moshiri has not covered himself in ownership glory over these past few months.

There was the always-doomed appointment of Rafa Benitez, the sacking of the club’s technical director (presumably at Rafa’s behest), the sale of one of the team’s best players in Lucas Digne.

Farhad Moshiri has come in for some serious criticism but the blame for Everton's struggles lies elsewhere (PA)

Hence, Moshiri has come in for some serious criticism.

But let’s get it right.

If an owner had stepped up in 2016 and said he was going to spend half a billion pounds on players, recruit managers of the repute of, say, Carlo Ancelotti and Ronald Koeman, and start work on a move to a state-of-the-art stadium, fans would have been salivating at the prospect.

Indeed, they were salivating at the prospect. And Moshiri has done those things.

But the problem has been the managers have not lived up to expectations and the recruitment of players has turned out to be quite significantly poor. Simple.

The board, including chairman Bill Kenwright, have to take responsibility for that and that is why it is understandable supporters want the hierarchy to be changed.

Manchester City made the template for modern success when they appointed Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain.

Those two might not bleed sky blue blood - as Kenwright bleeds royal blue blood - but they know how to run an elite football operation.

Vitor Pereira will go down as one of the few managers to have to defend his position .. before he has even got it (SIPA USA/PA Images)

Strip away the sentiment of his lifelong allegiance to Goodison Park and Kenwright is fair game.

Everton needs a new executive structure.

But there is clearly a more pressing issue for Everton and that is settling on a manager as soon as possible.

I would give Wayne Rooney a shot. Not because he is some sort of club icon or legend - contrary to what you constantly read and hear elsewhere, he is not - but because reports from within Derby County suggest he is a fiercely driven, innovative, ambitious young manager.

But maybe Frank Lampard is also those things.

He clearly wants to prove himself after things went badly at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard could help himself to a lucrative career in the media if he so wished.

Television companies would be falling over themselves for his services, one senior executive at Sky Sports once telling me the channel wanted Lampard to be their Gary Lineker.

Instead, he has a determination to make it management.

Lampard did a decent job at Derby County but his first crack at the Premier League did not go too well.

There is no sugar-coating that.

But he will surely have learned from his relatively brief time as Chelsea manager.

Bill Kenwright has been a constant during Everton's years of struggle and has to accept some of the blame (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Clearly, the short-term brief is to keep the club in the Premier League but considering the stadium plans, Everton should be a long-term project for a young manager.

Lampard is bright, personable and, on a basic level, knows - from his playing days - how to win football matches on a consistent basis.

And he also has a point to prove, which is normally a good thing.

Of course, as Moshiri and Everton have found out, no-one - not even the likes of Ancelotti - comes with a guarantee.

But if they decide on Lampard, it is a worthwhile punt.

And at least the fans won’t be calling for his head before he has even set foot in the door.

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