Duncan Ferguson has revealed Frank Lampard attempted to block his Everton exit and wanted the 50-year-old to continue representing the club.
The Scot left Goodison Park at the end of last season, having joined the club's first-team coaching staff in 2014, and is currently the favourite to land the Dundee United job following the sacking of Jack Ross.
A desire to pursue a manger's job was listed as the driving factor behind his decision give up his role with the Blues back in July, though this would not have proven to be the case had Lampard got his way.
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Opening up on his departure, Ferguson told the Times : “It was incredibly difficult for me to leave Everton, a club that I love, but I had made up my mind more or less six months before that my time was up and that I had come as far as I possibly could. I had to do the honourable thing. I think when you get interviewed for a job and don’t get it, it becomes a bit difficult.
“Frank didn’t want me to leave. I spoke to him two or three times, said what my plans were and I felt he genuinely wanted me to still be at the club. I think he will do well. Frank is a great coach, a great communicator and the players like him. You have to get respect as a coach and he has that. He has invited me back to the training ground in the future and I have spoken to him a few times since I left.
“I am open to any challenge," continued Ferguson on his current situation. "As long as it is a good owner and I can improve a team. I am not scared of a challenge. If it is the right thing I will do it and give everything I have got. I am ready now to show what I have learnt and what I am all about.”
Sharing on his thoughts on the current Blues' squad, shutting down fears of another relegation fight, he added: “Everton will finish mid-table comfortably. I don’t agree with all this talk about relegation. We were in a relegation dogfight last season, but Everton are not a relegation team by any stretch of the imagination."
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