Gary Neville has insisted it is time Everton began making changes at the highest level of the club to avoid further years of decline.
Making reference to his former club Manchester United, the ex-right-back believes there are similarities between the current Goodison Park regime and the Glazer-led ownership at Old Trafford, which has seen the Red Devils regress at a rapid rate in recent years.
Frank Lampard is the figure to have taken the hit on this occasion after being sacked by the Blues, but Neville is adamant it is the time for Everton to start replacing those in senior positions who continue to call the shots behind the scenes.
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Sharing his reaction to the news of Lampard's dismissal live on Sky Sports, he said: "I look at Everton and, even two or three years ago, they had a clear-out of the medical department and sports science, where you think you are starting to blame the soldiers rather than the generals.
"Every season we do the ones to watch and I've been on this seven years [Sky Sports] and I think I have said Everton every single year. That's because, at some point, you just think at some point they are going to get it right. But they haven't finished in the top seven for six years and they have spent quite a lot of money.
"I've said it about my own club, Manchester United, if you have seven, eight or nine years of failure - you have got to to start looking above the people who are on the football pitch and coaching staff and to the top. The reality is you have embedded sustained misery.
"It's like how I felt for Newcastle when Mike Ashley was the owner and it shouldn't be like that. Everton, 20 years ago when significant investment came into Manchester City or Chelsea, could be where they are in terms of being seen globally."
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