Graeme Souness has admitted that pressure on Frank Lampard ‘won’t be the same’ as that on Steven Gerrard as the two old teammates continue to come under scrutiny.
Everton picked up their first point of the season during Saturday’s draw at home to newly-promoted Nottingham Forest thanks to Demarai Gray’s 88th-minute winner, but the outlook is already relatively bleak with Dominic Calvert-Lewin out for a significant period and Anthony Gordon rumoured to be leaving for Chelsea.
Villa boss Gerrard got one over on his old England teammate with a 2-1 win, but defeats to Bournemouth and Crystal Palace have heaped pressure on the former Liverpool captain after a summer of big spending. And both former players have come under increasing scrutiny after their respective poor starts, but ex-Reds midfielder Souness believes Villa’s spending and ambition means there is far more pressure on him than on Frank Lampard.
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"I think they’ve gone beyond that now, they’ve cut their teeth in management," Souness told TalkSPORT when asked if Gerrard and Lampard’s playing careers protect them as managers. "Where the real pressure comes is when you spend big money, in Steven’s case he’ll be feeling it. The supporters will be voicing their opinion because you spend all this money you expect more and that’s the price of the ticket if you’re a manager. Frank’s slightly different, he’s been fighting a fire since he’s come in at Everton. The pressure won’t be the same on him."
There has already been pressure on both former midfield legends, with some very premature talk of who will lose their respective jobs first. And former Crystal Palace owner and chairman Simon Jordan admitted that there is more immediate pressure on Gerrard, with Toffees boss Lampard already holding a ‘built-in excuse’.
"I don’t really like talking about sack races," Jordan added. "I don’t think they (Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard) get a free pass, I think they get an opportunity that other people wouldn’t get that weren’t so steeped in the name – i.e the Gerrard name, the Rooney name, the Lampard name I think forges them an opportunity where other managers who might’ve had just as much ability but don’t have quite the same brand name, same feel about them.
"If it continues in this vain, if there is a comparison – that I hate to make it – between the opportunity he has and Lampard has, he (Gerrard) has more pressure because Everton are not in good fettle full stop, financially, off the pitch, so he’s got a built-in excuse. But I’m not sure he’s the answer for Everton and I’m not sure Everton is the answer for Lampard."
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