Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard insists he must buy himself time at Everton by winning games and hasn’t asked for ‘any assurances’ from Farhad Moshiri. The 43-year-old signed a two-and-a-half-year deal this week, to become the sixth new permanent manager in as many years at Goodison. Lampard, who replaced Rafa Benitez who was sacked after six-and-a-half-months, knows the only way to stay in a “great job” at Everton is to deliver results – which, in the short-term, means dragging the side out of the relegation battle.
Frank Lampard said: “I didn’t see it – again, I don’t want to talk about private conversations, but I don’t sit here craving time in terms of a two or three year vision. I know it is very nice to talk about the stadium and where we want to be in the next few years but what I have learned being in football and being at Chelsea is that I understand that you just need to get your head down and work. If you can do good things, you can move in the right direction and you keep working. If not, you give your all to that point. I am at the start of something now and I certainly haven’t asked for any assurances to that point. I will be as good as what impression I can have on this team and this squad. I will be as good as the style and the way of playing can be enjoyed by the fans. I will be particularly as good as the results we can produce in the short-term and, hopefully, the long-term. There are “maybes” and “ifs” but it is not worth getting involved with them. I’m in a great job and I am very proud to be here. As I keep saying, now is just the time to work and do the best job I possibly can.”
Lampard has been handed the Everton job after a period of chaos and unrest but says he found a “united” front in the hierarchy.
Frank Lampard said: “I have found, as I say, an owner, a chairman and a board that, from my first conversation, the one thing that was clear was that they want to find the best way to take this club forward. They are very united. I know there have been some difficult times but it is not my job to look over those. I only want to look at the future. Outside of that, I just want to look at Everton Football Club. I grew up with Everton Football Club being an incredible team in the mid-eighties. I remember the team and the size of the club and I remember coming here to play in the cup and feeling the atmosphere. In real terms, as much as I can talk about the process, the football person you are, those things are the big pull. To manage a club with such a fan base, a tradition and the idea that I could give them back something that they want. That is the thing that gets my juices flowing.”
