A More Calculated Risk

I expect a youthful team against both Brentford and Newcastle, full of running, and aware of their responsibilities. Bring on the rest of the season.

We have now returned to a young, hungry manager who has plenty to prove. This can only benefit Everton going forward. This has been my club for almost sixty years and for the first time in years I see a new era developing. I can see Frank Lampard becoming a legend here...

I do question, however, your basic portrayal of Lampard as a "calculated" risk. So chaotic was this process that I truly wonder whether Moshiri and the Board calculated anything at all. I agree that Moshiri's previous choices were at least somewhat understandable and he has had a lot of bad luck, but this time around I believe the selection of Lampard was more about desperation than calculation -- a product of fan outrage and spray paint more than any cool analysis of leadership or strategy -- and that success will be a matter of luck evening itself out.

God knows whom Moshiri consulted in this process, possibly Kenwright, three names suggest his input, possibly Joorabchian and possibly Usmanov. Maybe it was all his own work. Whatever, I think Mike Gaynes is being kind in calling it a chaotic process, it wasn't a process at all.

Given the five names, I'm delighted to be celebrating Lampard's appointment, and on Saturday, this old man will be at Goodison to give him a cheer. I hope he can do what the last eight "names" have failed to do. Come on, you blues.

As reported in the Guardian: "There had also been questions over how Lampard handled senior players such as Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rüdiger. There was a feeling that the 43-year-old was not a great communicator. At times Lampard came across as awkward and distant. His man-management could have been smoother and there will be concerns that he could struggle again if he has not worked out how to forge stronger connections with players."

"Some people feel that Lampard needs to loosen up. Even he admits that he can be an over-thinker. Nerves can be an issue. Lampard's interview for the vacancy at Crystal Palace last summer did not go well – the club ended up turning to Patrick Vieira, who has been quietly impressive this season – and it is understood he has spent time working on how to convey his ideas more effectively."

He seems driven to learn and improve himself and that is something I can get behind.

It's been an embarrassing and difficult couple of weeks and I am sure left to his own devices Mr Moshiri would have appointed someone else. Let's hope that he has learnt from this exercise, in Frank Lampard we have a Manager with an excellent football pedigree. He will need some luck and our full backing but I think we are in a much better position now than when we last played and lost.

Link

Michael #9, Lampard's issues with established senior players at Chelsea don't concern me much. There are no such accomplished senior players at Everton, except perhaps Richarlison -- who I believe will be delighted with a young, successful-on-the-pitch manager who talks sensibly. I am most optimistic about Lampard in relation to keeping Rich happy and with the club.

Rick #8, I'm not confident in Moshiri's competence, but everyone can agree that he's overdue for some good luck, and he may have lucked into the right choice this time. We shall see.

Enjoyable article Lyndon, and hopefully Goodison, is also going to become a more enjoyable place, especially if our great crowd, gets the opportunity to really unite!

I doubt if any of the other candidates would have convinced Van Beek or Alli to come to Everton, and most posters on here have been saying for months we need to do something with our midfield, well not a bad start considering he has only been in charge for a very short time.
He likes to promote youth and has spoken in his first press conference in how important it is to show young players there is a pathway to play in the first team.

I commented last week that Frank would be the ‘unity' candidate. Now that he has arrived I hope everyone connected with the club gives him their full support even if results fail to improve to the extent we all hope. Fingers crossed indeed!

Recent years, I've experienced phones going off twice at damned funerals ffs.

I think this is the first time we have seen him communicate directly through the club website. He seems to have finally bought into the need for him to be more hands on.

Then Tosun and Delph will free up another 180,000/week

So my judgment does not stand up to the the closest scrutiny. But I am in favour of Frank Lampard and will give him my support.

Every one who was interviewed,with research could be found to have faults with previous clubs, including Lampard. I believe that any one who applies for a position is aware of previous mistakes and is willing to change; this what makes me feel that Lampard is the right one for the job, plus getting the experience and help with the coaches he is bringing in with him.

Welcome to Frank Lampard, and hope we have finally got someone, who can actually organize a team out of who we have.

Rather than a calculated risk, they landed on their feet. The two factions of Kenwright &Co and Moshiri & now Kia still exist and where in their fully glory throughout the shambolic selection process. It was actually the Fans that forced Lampard into serious consideration. Moshiri is susceptable to fan pressure. , Paticularly with the emergence of a Evertonian Banksy.

Lampard is all that Lyndon describes and hopefully the Fans will land on their feet with Frank's appointment.

So Everton will remain with the Offshore Moshiri and the dyfunctional Board, or interesting Board as Frank described it. The difference is Moshiri and Kenwright &Co are running out of road, and alot deadwood contracts are coming near their end at last. Lampard should improve midfield with his know how and a new experienced Assistant Manager should help build a Management team, improvements ng coaching, better than was previously possible. His development of first team youth is a plus. I expect alot of movement out and in over the Summer. Above all Lampard is about playing good English football, which was lackling at Everton. The players have had great difficulty in get the grips with anything else. Tactically and technically they looked as they did not have a clue. .

The High Performance Podcast: Episode 21 – Frank Lampard: Taking on 100% responsibility, whilst retaining humility

As a regular reader of ToffeeWeb and an occasional poster, it is so obvious that there is far too much conflict between supporters, all of whom are honest Evertonians, Constructive criticism is often put to one side by insulting other supporters who may have a diffeent point of view. It often goes far beyond honest banter. Healthy debates are too often forgotten in an attempt to denigrate others.

I honestly think that Lampard could be the perfect leader to bring fans together. Benitez could never succeed for obvious reasons and none of the others seemed to have the ability to do anything other than to divide the supporters. Lampard has one main goal this season: to help us move away from the relegation zone. Not as easy as it may now seem but let us all get behind him for the next few months. Then we can have higher goals for next season.

A blend of his apparent tendency to try the young players (and we have some good ones) combined with his name and influence in the English game could be a good mix.

Derby a good stepping stone. Chelsea a step too far too early. Given where Everton are right now, this could be a good move for both manager and club.

If I keep saying it, it will happen. He's repeating his and his dad's corner flag celebration at Wembley in May.

Welcome Frank. Blue is your colour.

Lyndon, great article as mentioned by others already. THX.

Another great article, Lyndon.

But what do you expect when it appears you are in a relegation fight, have limited transfer opportunities, and at the same time difficulties of having to decide if and who to renew contracts or try to move on, medical staff excepted.

Hi ho, hi ho, off to Finch Farm we go!

My concerns now are centred on how Lampard approaches defensive tactics and how the rest of the football organisation takes shape around him.

On the former, I hope he doesn't overestimate our defenders who are very easily exposed on the counter-attack as it is. A high press could result in a huge attrition of goals.

On the latter, there remains a vacuum in the recruitment and sports science departments. It's unclear to me who leads the recruitment of that. For as long as Bill Kenwright is operating as chairman, I don't have a lot of faith in there being any clear leadership in the technical direction of the sporting organisation. I

fear Lampard getting unnecessarily drawn into that overly political world in order to get the pieces in place around him, thus distracting him from his core focus.

Nothing is certain in football... well except that all fans seem to think they have the answers to problems they have no control over..

Good luck to Lampard he is going to need the rub of the green before he can impose any kind of identity with Everton..

At least the majority of fans seem to be a wee bit happier... for now..

The big change so far is that we have gone from a club of pessimism to optimism. Frank, and his two signings yesterday, have got everyone perked up again. We are still in the exact same boat though, and pretty much every team we'll be battling with for relegation have made their own changes, or may have already turned a corner..

*Newcastle spent a lot of money but maybe not as much as they wanted. Plus they are unbeaten in 3. the new additions are going to make a big difference to their season. I expect them to stay up.

*Norwich have back to back wins (one against us!!) and could go 3-in-a-row against Palace.

*Watford have hired Roy Hodgson as their manager. How everyone laughed not me! He will already be working on their defence. Ourselves and Watford are the two worst form teams (I still cant shake the memory of that 5-2 disaster). Roy will relish another relegation battle

*Burnley - games in hand and Dyche in charge. you wouldn't put it past them to start clocking up a few points

Hopefully, some of the clubs above us can get sucked in to the relegation fight too!

Some good additions for Frank, but he has to get these guys back on form. Could be a tall ask with Dele Alli, but he wanted him from the get go. He obviously sees what we all saw a few seasons ago. If he can get him playing half as good as that then we still have quite a player. He could end up being our key man in attack, but I still wonder how he will play him and DVDB in the same team,

And still we have that nervy defence. I'm just wondering will he bring Branthwaite in to the team. It needs some sort of shaking up. Lampard's last two jobs saw his teams lacking defensive stability as he attached more. We're unstable enough as it is so good luck to him with that conundrum.

Anyhoo roll on Saturday. I'm enjoying the change in mood, although the best I can muster is nervously optimistic! Big month ahead

Let's hope we've turned a corner, after decades of mediocrity.

I am really excited to have Van De Beek in the squad as I was hoping we would get him from Ajax after that great run that they had in the CL. With Dele Alli, I have always thought of him as a sneaky player who got under our guys' skin. He does have bags of potential and here's hoping we can get the best out of him. Would have loved a proper DM - a real Carsley/Makele/Gueye type to shield the back 4, but it wasn't to be in this transfer window. Sad that both new additions are cup tied. Am curious to see the team sheet for Saturday. A decent Cup run will boost morale and give us some impetus.

The owner and club management that created the crisis we find ourselves in remains the same. Worse, they are the ones who have charged themselves with the task of conducting the ‘internal review' of the club. That simply won't work, will it? It needs the naked eye of independent, external reviewers to ‘see' the failings and the necessary changes needed to improve performances across the board.

Secondly, Duncan Ferguson.

I'm not one that has a downer on Duncan. However, I can't understand how a man who not once, but twice, when being asked to be interim manager ruled himself out of the running to be the full-time manager. Who was not considered worthy of getting the job by the owner and the board on either occasion. But who somehow was called to the 'final interview' last Friday.

How did that come about? Did he change his mind and declare his interest? Did management flip 180 degrees and decide he was worthy? And what now? How, why, is he retained at the club when he is a losing candidate to the man who WAS chosen as manager?

From a position of strength just a few days ago, Duncan has been neutered. Downgraded. He looked marginalised today in the video clips of Lampard's first training session.

Since Martinez promoted him to work with the first team, Ferguson has sat alongside every manager on match day. Given the backroom staff Lampard has brought with him, I don't see the need for Duncan to join Frank and his assistants on match days, unless it is an act of tokenism.

Whilst there are reports that Lampard wants Ferguson to stay (role undefined), Duncan himself has a decision to make. Is he going to remain in the comfort zone of Finch Farm, or is he going to prove himself elsewhere?

Personally, I have no issues with the man if he decides he is happy to continue as auxiliary staff at Finch Farm which to me signals the limits of his ambition. David Unsworth did likewise when he sat in as interim manager after Koeman left. Among his very first words in taking on the role were: ‘I'm ready for this.'

That was four years ago. Rhino evidently wasn't ready and privately maybe accepts he is not well-suited to the day-to-day role of club manager. Why? Because he has shown no ambition to fly the nest and test himself as a manager elsewhere.

Has Duncan Ferguson has a similar ‘Road to Damascus' moment and realises he will never be Everton's full-time manager without gaining first-hand experience as a club manager himself? That rather than take the risk of failure in the precarious world of football manager he is just fine and dandy where he is at Finch Farm?

It's possible Dunc was ready to go and try his luck elsewhere after his "I don't have the experience yet," comment last week. But there were reports last week also that the players wanted him to stay on until at least the end of the season. As a self-proclaimed Evertonian, it's possible that with all the upheaval of recent years, Bill/Frank etc may have lent on him to stick around just to provide some continuity so the likes of DCL/Rich don't get their heads turned as easily. His actual role hasn't been explained and there's no word on a new contract or anything. Perhaps he plans to give in six months of transition then try his luck elsewhere? Or maybe he is just happy doing what he is doing.

On the interview? I think that was face saving for Bill and Mosh so it didn't look like a graffiti artist picked our new manager. They made it seem as if they alone made the final decision from the various candidates.

The Strategic revenue of the Long term PERMANENT Strategic plan ( named as so by the Chief Executive) has increased these placements with Sharpe and Cahill, as part of the Review. Maybe the 'Permanent ' in the Strategic Plan title is about maintaining and adding to these ex player permanent placements, all paying homage to Bill. A recent Daily Mail article, referenced on ToffeeWeb, expounded the qualities of Evertons Chairman, concluding he should go on forever. This article is full of Deniseisms from the Chief Executives, who appears to be a non de plume for both Kenwright/Moshiri and continually singing the praise of these Permanent Employees.

The whole thing is Brazeningly barefaced, is a major preoccupation of the current Club Management, that shows no sign of abating and is set to continue.

I fully expect the Chief Executive at the AGM to cite this all as part of a successful Strategic Review. The other part of the Review, the ESSG, has office space at the Liver building and tweeting via the Chief Executive/ PR with special Board fan representative positions, to be announced, on guess who's selection. criteria ?

Picture a teary Bill, tears streaming and threatening to throw himself from the top tier of the main stand when Mosh and DBB step forward, throw an arm around him with promises that we will never again be in this position even if the Barcodes are outspending anything Wimbledon could manage and the books will be creatively corrected shortly, or possibly a share issue.

And the mob known as the Finch Farm Hangers will rise up shouting, "What would Barca do in this situation!", knowing that it will be nothing until the investigation, Strategic Review whatever, is complete, recommendations studied etc blah, blah, blah.

And the show goes on....

Whilst I understand that people are happy where they are and entitled to that, I question the renumeration involved and the lack of associated performance targets. I assume that the high renumeration is parallel to the risk of tenure involved in a required high-performance environment. But this is evidently not the case at Everton. I have no comparative evidence to provide, other than my own experience.

My opinion of Duncan's interview was it was, as Kieran states, a face-saving exercise for Kenwright and Moshiri or a negotiating ploy in talks with Lampard or the offer of an interview with employment law in mind, which Duncan accepted. Duncan did not mind, allowing himself to be photoed on a train to London with a blogger, which was put straight onto Twitter. Was he just doing his paymasters' bidding and gaining continued renumeration and employment? He previously stated that his role as manager was only temporary.

I myself have had to eat humble pie and like it on occasions.

I enjoyed watching the training on the video. It might have looked basic, but I think you can gain a lot by watching people in these little tight sessions, to see how hard they work, something that Lampard has said must be the blue print for the players of Everton from now on.

Lampard was right in the middle of the shooting session, but I'm sure that once he's overseen everything, then he will shorten the groups using different coaches, and Duncan will probably start taking over those shooting sessions, maybe?

The main thing is the quality of the playing staff - and everyone pulling together behind the scenes. Hence Bruno Lage's relative success at Wolves.

Some really good points in this good article though which should make us feel encouraged.

After an initial bounce, Lampard has a lot to do to hang on to this job more than about 12 months. If he sees out his 2.5 year contract he'll have done extraordinarily well.

But we don't even need to worry about that just yet - we just need to see out this grim season with a few wins.

On Duncan, if he's there because the Manager wants him in some capacity, that's fine by me, even though I'm all for uprooting this club from top to bottom. As long as it's the new manager's choice.

Jay, what you say; it's like marking your own homework right? Human instinct and nature is that you will generally never be to self-critical. Independent and external analysis is the most accurate way to critique and improve.

We're feeling more positive right now, but let's not let the momentum of change and pressure on the owner go, even though he seems to be listening and taking ownership. Hopefully his latest installation to manage on the pitch matters can match his great ambitions with the stadium. But for me, there is still a glaring gap in terms of those who run the club on his behalf.

The current incumbents belong and will keep us in the 1960s and 1980s at Woodison.

Sorry. It's only midweek. Can't wait for Saturday. One step closer to Wembley.

On the football side of things I think this is the best appointment this club have made since we appointed Howard Kendall, and Lampard is far more experienced than Howard was. I am not interested whether Duncan stays or not but its quite clear our present owners have no intention of ever giving him the job permanently, now if Frank is happy for him to be around finch Farm then there is no issue. When Ashley Cole joins as seems likely Lampard will have the best backroom staff he could wish for, the players will be able to relate to him and Cole as players and in Clement they have the experienced old head.

Yes there will be bumps along the road but we have someone who has a definite idea of how he wants to play, which is a positive front foot approach but has also surrounded himself with coaches who understand and appreciate the defensive side of the game. Frank will need time but I am convinced he will turn this failing club around and again make it a pleasure instead of a chore to go to Goodison.

If Farhad Moshiri is sincere in wishing to see NSNO established throughout the club, that is the path he should take.

Unless and until he does (AND take on board and implement the changes such an audit would inevitably reveal), the current set-up will continue to underachieve to the degree it has in Moshiri's six year ownership of the club.

And that alone will continue to impact negatively on the core purpose of our existence.

Football.

Would you like to name one of the countless options you reckon there are to carry out an independent review. Also the biggest problem we have is first who does own Everton and 2nd just for arguments sake lets pretend its Moshiri he is as big a problem as is Kenwright. So would he really want someone to carry out a strategic review which may show him to be the first person that needs replacing, and given his track record after 6 years he has to be top of the list. Look we cant change owners or chairmen just like Mike Ashley proved at Newcastle he was hated by the majority of fans but didnt leave till his asking price was met.

I personally know one Evertonian who has 40 years experience of doing just that who would be more than capable. I won't embarrass him by revealing his name.

Who is asking for change of ownership? The call is for greater professionalsim and accountability which is evidently absent within the club's management structure.

And you CAN change your chairman and directors, as Moshiri has regularly done.

The Prime Minister is the owner; the custodian. If things go wrong, it's rarely the PM who goes.

But they can reshuffle the cabinet. And do.

Our owner isn't going anywhere soon. But he needs a reshuffle of his cabinet.

Did anyone notice the terse statement the club posted in the early hours, to the effect that the women's manager, Jean-Luc Vasseur and his two coaches, have left the club with immediate effect?
I wonder what's going on here? Very strange.

We can only hope that Frank's apparent natural enthusiasm is reflected out on the pitch by his players and that the current squad don't give him any doubts about their committment, like they have done so often to previous bosses

It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks, and the team need to start winning league games as soon as possible. The good thing is that the Goodison faithul can show full support to Frank Lampard and his team and that might be enough to save this season from becoming a major disaster, which is where we were heading a couple of weeks ago.

I heard on Sunday night, that Ferguson was leaving, “that's good I thought”, because my biggest wish is for Everton to move away from the old boys club, that appears to exist right throughout our club.

I heard from the same man on Monday morning, that Lampard had personally phoned Ferguson, asking him to stay on and help him, and even though I can be a bit sceptical, I actually believed this is true, otherwise I genuinely wouldn't be going back to Goodison Pk. (I'm aware I wouldn't be missed)

That wouldn't have been nothing against Duncan Ferguson, because I went last Saturday, and would have continued to go and watch Everton, if Duncan had became our new manager, but it was more to do with what I deem to be complete professionalism, something I personally think that by continuing to keep Ferguson on board, throughout every single managerial change, has shown that this is something Everton have been badly lacking.

We still lack it now, a club review should definitely be made from people outside our club, and I think this is something that needs to be rammed home to Farhad Moshiri.

It was great that Moshiri spoke, but if he wants to go away and continue to devote as little time as possible to Everton, he's got to employ a top CEO, and let them work without influence, imo.

That's fair enough teary eyed Bill got to Frank.Really Duncan does not want to go anywhere else.Having went bankrupt 6 years ago he is probably trying still to put one foot in front of the other.He will toe the line for what ever boss he is under.Not one boss has complained.It is the lack of governance and accountability within the organisation alot of us are very uncomfortable about.

IMO the Permanent Strategy Plan and it's Review are nothing to do with the professional conduct of business, but are devices like Denise new titles for doing the same job and performing the same as before,with better renumeration. Brands was part of this Strategic Plan where he reorganised, promoted, and placed people with titles and no accountability.The Strategic Review materialised after he was sacked as a device to regain control.
Even the ESSG which is part off it is a attempt to control the Fan lead Review and damping fan opposition groups.Steal their thunder in otherworld.

It really is all about self preservation of certain parties, and trying to make their position permanent.I know the lengths they are going to do so are unbelievable., even ending AGMs so they are not asked questions and held accountable. Millions of loses every year and their narrative is continuous progress and future success, never being accountable.

I have never come across a Permanent Strategic Plan in Business and can't find a reference to it on the Internet or business literature .No one in business that I know has heard of such a thing.Yet Everton's Chief Executive has named it so, without one iota of explanation.I can therefore assume Permanent means Permanent and relates to it's objectives.

I am hopeful that Lampard will.get the team to play good football and as you say we can concentrate on that up to the opening of the new Stadium.Time hopefully will change things and this is the last hooray of Kenwright &Co.But there will have to be changes at Club Management level if progress is to beyond midtable mediocrity.

I am concerned about Cahill's role and possible remit.Lampard's staff are on the training field types and not in the technical areas.

Duncan will retire from Everton with a pension long after Frank is gone.

I think the manager and his team under him look excellent, if results don't work out I'd be looking at the players as the guilty party more than them.

I know all Everton supporters are desperate to win a trophy but where we are in the league at the moment I don't think we can risk playing many of our best players in the cup competitions.