Win football matches and win over the fans: Frank Lampard’s to-do list at Everton

Frank Lampard takes over at Everton with plenty to do and not a lot of time in which to do it.

The former Chelsea midfielder and manager has signed a two-and-a-half year deal after he underwent a final interview in London on Friday, along with other contenders Vitor Pereira and previous caretaker boss Duncan Ferguson.

Owner Farhad Moshiri, chairman Bill Kenwright and other board members were present and Lampard was officially appointed as a successor for Rafael Benitez on Monday.

Lampard said: “It is a huge honour for me to represent and manage a club the size and tradition of Everton Football Club. I’m very hungry to get started. After speaking to the owner, Chairman and the Board, I very much felt their passion and ambition. I hope they felt my ambition and how hard I want to work to bring it together.

“You can feel the passion Everton fans have for their club. That will be hugely important. As a team - the competitive level that the Premier League brings and the position we are in the table - we certainly need that. It’s a two-way thing.

“I think Everton is a unique club in that you can really understand what the fans want to see. The first thing they want is fight and desire and that must always be our baseline.

“My first message to the players will be that we have to do this together. We’ll try to do our job and I know the fans will be there backing us.”

Here, we look at some of the issues which need addressing.

Last week the club lost Abdoulaye Doucoure and Fabian Delph to injuries for at least four weeks, in addition to fellow central midfielder Tom Davies also being out until March at the earliest. Filling that gap, both temporarily and longer-term, is a priority, while another striker would not go amiss. However, the clock is ticking and with no director of football, head of recruitment or chief scout in place, last-minute deals could be more complicated than necessary.

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Rafael Benitez’s dismantling of the admittedly under-performing football structure – the head of medicine was also jettisoned – in the short period he was at the club has left the job half-finished and created a vacuum in terms of top-notch experience to steer the club in a definitive direction. Lampard will want to bring in some of his own choices, although the club’s ongoing strategic review may throw a spanner in those works.

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Protests by fans inside and outside Goodison Park have been largely directed at chairman Bill Kenwright and the way the club has been run over the last few years of gradual decline. A new manager always provides a boost and, while Lampard does not have Everton connections, the supporters can console themselves with the fact he is not another Benitez-like figure such as prospective candidate Vitor Pereira or Sam Allardyce, who faced opposition even before the appointment was announced.

Ten defeats in 13 matches, a return of six points from a possible 42, has left the club facing a relegation battle four points above the drop zone. Performances have been dreadful and the lack of fight within the squad is something which needs to be addressed immediately. Whether that mentality can be turned around quickly is open to question.

Everton have produced a number of top homegrown talents but in recent years progress to the first team has stalled. A number of youngsters have been given game time this season, but more out of necessity than a clear pathway. Anthony Gordon, who had previous loan spells at Preston and Swindon, is the one encouraging player to emerge from the chaos of the current campaign, although persuading Lewis Dobbin to sign a new contract last week is also a positive. Lampard had experience at Chelsea of blooding – and succeeding with – youth, but it is unlikely to be a swift process.