Most Everton supporters have faith in Frank Lampard and his coaching staff to take the club forward, a survey of Blues supporters has found.
Last week the ECHO ran its Big Forum study, asking readers a series of questions about how they viewed the club. The answers revealed significant support for Lampard and his backroom staff heading into the new season.
There was also clearly a great deal of pride in the atmosphere at Goodison Park - perhaps no surprise given the passionate scenes so crucial in helping the club survive relegation last season. They were repeated on Saturday as Everton supporters passionately backed the players ahead for the first game of the campaign.
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Around seven in every 10 Blues who responded to the survey said they had faith in Lampard and his backroom team. The Everton manager helped pull the club from a spiral towards relegation and forged a close connection with the fans in the process - leading to the stunning scenes that marked the confirmation of Premier League survival against Crystal Palace.
Lampard's backroom team includes the vastly experienced Paul Clement, who has coached at clubs such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and, as a manager, led Swansea City to an unlikely escape from Premier League relegation. His assessment of Lampard is clear. Speaking with the ECHO this summer, he said: "My opinion is Frank will go a long way in management and I'm not just saying that, I have a reason behind it.
"I think he has got the right temperament for it. He has got the right commitment for it as well... He lives, eats, breathes his job. He talks about it until late, he is on it right from the morning. When he was on holiday he was on the phones and messages. He is fully immersed in it and I think that is the only way you can be as a manager if you want to do it properly."
Those who responded to the Big Forum gave the atmosphere at Goodison Park an average score of close to eight of 10 - perhaps no surprise given the unity and passion that has been on display in recent home games. The season opener against Chelsea was the first time new signing James Tarkowski had experienced a coach welcome outside the ground.
After the game, he said: "It was a special experience. I put my phone down and just made sure I took it all in. To see the amount of people out there cheering us on was just special. Fair play to the fans because they are really right behind us. Hopefully it will stay like that."
Other responses to the survey were less positive - but have to be set in context: The Big Forum was launched before Everton embarked on the latest part of the squad strengthening exercise that has now led to the arrival of Amadou Onana and Conor Coady.
Those who responded gave an average score of just over four out of 10 when asked to rate how happy they were with the club's transfer approach, and how happy they were overall.
That rose to an average of five out of 10 when asked how they felt about the club's ambition. Happiness with the ownership of the club was rated at an average of four out of 10 after the club's relegation near-miss.
A strategic review - said by those behind it to have been carried out to overhaul the footballing operation - was launched by Everton chiefs at the end of last year. Its findings have been credited with influencing the appointment of Lampard, and director of football Kevin Thelwell's revamp of the Finch Farm setup.
That includes a new focus on developing youth in the academy and sourcing future stars in the transfer market after the spending of half a billion pounds under majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri failed to bring immediate success.
Earlier this summer, Moshiri called for patience over transfers and the signings of Ruben Vinagre and Dwight McNeil as well as Coady and Onana have followed. The club appears close to securing the return of Idrissa Gueye and is exploring attacking options following the sale of Richarlison and loss of Dominic Calvert-Lewin to injury.
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