As the sun set in a pocket of Wanstead's leafy urban chic, Frank Lampard's pub was hosting a wake the other evening - and one way or another, he fears he might be attending another one at the Taxpayers Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Down at the Nightingale on the Green, tucked behind the North Circular and Essex's metropolitan fringe, most of the regulars at Lampard's boozer will be hoping West Ham manager David Moyes wins a stay of execution in a massive relegation duel. Normally, Hammers royalty Lampard senior – who played 660 games for the Hammers, including two FA Cup wins five years apart – would relish the contest and catch the highlights on Pie and Mash of the Day.
But when your son is Everton boss Frank Lampard, and sharks will scent the losing manager's blood in the water, for 90 minutes some of his loyalties will be not so much divided as set aside.
Somehow, halfway through the season, two famous clubs find themselves in the Premier League quicksands. West Ham were cutting a swathe through Europe eight months ago, but Moyes is clinging to his job because they have been so blunt up front that if the Hammers were invited to open a supermarket, they couldn't cut the ribbon with a chainsaw.
And Everton, whose fans have largely exonerated Lampard 2.0 amid the air of mutiny, need to wake up and smell the Toffees after collecting one point since the World Cup break. It's 28 years since they won a trophy, and with a new £500 million home under construction at Bramley-Moore Dock, it could be the shiniest stadium in the Championship next year.
Lampard senior, always a measured observer in the age of hype, said: “Family comes first, so of course I want Frank to do well - blood is thicker than water and all that. I was looking at the table this morning and there's only two points separating the bottom seven. Nobody's adrift – put two wins together and it all changes. I still don't think either of them will go down.”
Lampard senior was Harry Redknapp's trusted assistant at West Ham from 1994-2001, when the Hammers always survived despite sailing close to the wind a couple of times, and he admits the pressure on Moyes feels eerily familiar. He also makes tactful observations about his son's previous managerial assignment at Chelsea, most of which was spent under a transfer embargo, a far cry from current owner Todd Boehly's £450 million trolley dash.
“Never, in my worst nightmares, did I think West Ham would be in the bottom three after reaching a European semi-final and two top-seven finishes in the last two years,” said the Nightingale landlord. “David Moyes is a good manager who has done a decent job, but for one reason or another they haven't scored enough goals this season and they are where they are.
“Without trying to sound like a cheerleader, West Ham usually play better when the crowd is behind them. When the fans get on their case, they will get nervous, and when players live on their nerves they will make mistakes. It's the same for Everton – the punters up there have been very fair to Frank, and I know he appreciates their support.
“But he's in the same boat: They need results, wins on the board. He kept them up by the skin of their teeth last year, and although they look a bit short on the ground (in squad depth), they have good players... but I'm 74 years old now, and I know how it works.
“Football is a cruel business sometimes, and you have to take it in your stride. I was disappointed for Frank, and the way it ended for him at Chelsea. I was a bit surprised when it happened.
“You've got to give credit to the fellow (Thomas Tuchel) who came in and won the Champions League four months later. Frank left him a decent group to work with, but he's gone as well, hasn't he? That's the nature of management now: There's no such thing as a job for life any more. You work hard, and you do your best until it's taken away from you, but there's no point in crying about it.
“A manager's job is so precarious these days, and once you get hardened to it, you accept that the tide can turn at any time. There's always a chance to come back somewhere else and show what you're about.”
