Everton has ended its managerial search by appointing a London legend.
The Merseyside club announced the hiring of former Chelsea player and manager Frank Lampard on Monday after a two-week managerial search.
Lampard interviewed for the position last week then again on Friday, per The Athletic. The former midfielder, who amassed 176 goals and 102 assists in a historic Premier League career primarily with West Ham and Chelsea, coached Derby County to the Championship playoff final in 2019. He was then hired by Chelsea and led the Blues to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, but was sacked in January 2021 after a poor run of form saw his side fall to ninth in the table. He has not coached since.
Lampard succeeds Rafa Benitez, whose six-month reign at Everton had the Toffees drop from a 10th-place league finish last season to just four points above the relegation zone right now.
While Everton’s coaching search has been relatively short-lived, it wasn’t lacking in drama. Wayne Rooney, an academy product of the club who got his start in the Premier league at Goodison Park, opted against interviewing for the job, instead sticking to his managerial role with Derby.
When it was reported earlier this week that former Fenerbahçe manager Vitor Pereira was Benitez’s likely successor, fans gathered at Goodison in protest, going so far as to spray paint "Pereira Out, Lampard in" on the wall.
It looks like the Everton faithful got their wish.
