Everton are on the hunt for a new manager following the sacking of Rafa Benitez on Sunday, with Frank Lampard one of the early names linked with the position.
The Blues relieved the Spaniard of his duties following a dismal run of recent results, which culminated in yet another disappointing defeat in Saturday's loss to Norwich.
That has left the club sitting just six points above the relegation zone, having secured just one victory in their last 13 Premier League matches.
Among a whole host of managers linked with the role at Goodison Park after the departure of Benitez - including the likes of Wayne Rooney and Roberto Martinez - former Chelsea boss Lampard has emerged in some reports as one of the front runners.
The ex-Derby County boss was dismissed at Stamford Bridge in January 2021 and has not had a managerial role since.
But how did he get on with Chelsea? What were his strengths and weaknesses?
To find out, we spoke to football.london's Chelsea writer Sam Inkersole to get the inside track on the potential Blues target.
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Are you surprised to see Frank Lampard's name linked with the Everton managerial role?
Not really because as soon as a vacant managerial position has come up in the Premier League in the summer and across this season, Lampard’s name has invariably come up as being among the shortlist.
He was close to joining both Crystal Palace and Norwich City before both clubs decided to go in a different direction.
Having managed Chelsea for 18 months and having done a relatively decent job, plus going well with Derby prior to his return to Stamford Bridge, Lampard has put his name in the frame for many vacancies.
Lampard seems to be a logical choice for Everton in truth as he will bring players through and play in the so-called “modern way” but he would be a project manager, not someone you can just ditch in six months.
If he doesn’t join Everton then the next vacancy that comes up, I am certain he will be linked with.
What were his strengths as a manager?
Lampard tends to set his teams up to go after opponents across the board rather than simply trying to exploit whatever their biggest weakness might be.
That means an entertaining brand of football, if a bit too gung-ho at times, but it’s certainly good to watch. He needs two key players in his successful system and that is a defensive midfielder (Jorginho in Chelsea’s case, initially) and an out and out number nine (Tammy Abraham).
So, expect goals at either end of the pitch, basically.
Did he have weak areas Everton should be aware of?
Breaking through Lampard’s first line of defence, which would have been Jorginho, would often leave his back four terribly exposed, especially as Chelsea would often revert to a 2-4-3-1 in possession. A quick turnover in possession left the Blues extremely open to be countered.
The high intensity style of Lampard often saw players knackered pretty quickly which would lead to mistakes.
Also - set pieces. That was a major area of concern for Chelsea defensively, they shipped 15 goals from set pieces while he was in charge, not really sticking with either a man-marking approach or a zonal marking one, either.
Should Everton's young players be particularly intrigued by this link?
They should because they will get given a chance.
You can point to the transfer ban at Chelsea while he was there in that his hand was essentially forced to play the likes of Abraham, Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori and Reece James but he gave them their chance and all excelled in his system.
Everton’s talented crop of youngsters should be excited if Lampard does take change as they have a high chance of getting minutes to show what they can do at a senior level.
How do the Chelsea fans look back on Lampard's time with the club after his departure?
Lampard will always be a legend at Chelsea, regardless of what happened with him as a manager.
He brought through youngsters from Cobham into the first team, played an attacking brand of football and got Chelsea into the top four in his sole full season in charge.
As we know with Chelsea, you’re never far off a crisis and a poor run - coupled with some very bad performances as well - ultimately cost him his job.
There was uproar in some quarters when he left among the fan base but you can’t argue with the decision to bring in Thomas Tuchel as his replacement.
