23 January 2023 , 19:45
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Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher both conceded Everton's decision to sack Frank Lampard was justified, but highlighted deeper issues at the club.
Defeat at West Ham at the weekend proved to be the final straw for the Chelsea legend, who has now faced the axe at two Premier League clubs. Lampard kept Everton afloat last term but they've been involved in a relegation battle throughout the current campaign.
A poor run of form has the Toffees in the bottom three and fan anger has increased, with their frustrations largely aimed at the board. Neville and Carragher have both advocated the appointment of English managers, who are few and far between in the top flight, but could not disagree with the decision made at Goodison Park.
Neville said on Sky Sports: "A tinge of sadness I suppose on the English managers side of things - only now three in the league currently with Frank going and Steven Gerrard going, but we always knew Saturday was a high-stakes game.
"West Ham struggling like mad, big club. Everton struggling like mad, big club, and it was always Moyes or Lampard and you look at some of the mistakes that Everton make and they’re absolutely criminal mistakes."
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Carragher added: "A decision had to be made, and I always feel with a manager, if you’ve got a similar record to the guy before who you replace - so Rafa Benitez was on a similar sort of run, one win in 12 or something like that - you can’t complain then when the club decide to make a change.
Frank Lampard's time at Everton has come to an end"So we’re gonna look at Everton this season and the underlying numbers as well really. You look where they are with points, we know where they are - joint bottom of the table with Southampton.
"The problem is the underlying numbers in terms of expected goals, expected goals per game is pretty much where they are."
Neville has commented on the atmosphere around the Merseyside outfit. Owner Farhad Moshiri has rarely been seen at games, with his tenure marred by over spending and under achievement. The pundit has compared the current anger with the previous frustrations at Newcastle.
He added: "I think disappointment. It reminds me of Mike Ashley’s time at Newcastle, when a manager got sacked you sort of felt disconnect between fans, owners, players, manager - maybe not between the fans and the manager actually because I think that the fans were behind Frank - and particular at the end of last season, that special atmosphere that was created at Goodison Park."