It started where it looks to be ending.
On the frosty streets outside Goodison Park, 12 months ago Everton fans pleaded with their much-maligned board members to appoint Frank Lampard in one of the most bizarre managerial selection sagas in recent Premier League memory. Vitor Pereira had been the favourite to succeed Rafa Benitez following his ill-fated six-month reign, and the Portuguese coach even went public in his bid to win over support from Toffees fans.
It didn't catch on, however, and after protests outside their beloved and soon-to-be former home ground ahead of what proved to be a chaotic transfer deadline day, Lampard got the job on a two-and-a-half-year deal. Less than a full year into his tenure, though, the streets are awash with anger once more.
Second-bottom of the Premier League table with no wins in their last nine games, a run stretching back to October 22, Everton are staring into the abyss and need a mid-season turnaround yet again.
There's so much unhappiness and fury on the blue half of Merseyside that the Toffees board, fronted by chairman Bill Kenwright for the past 19 years and backed by the finances of Farhad Moshiri since 2016, were advised to stay away ahead of Saturday's home defeat to then-bottom Southampton.
It was due to what a club statement described as "a real and credible threat to their safety and security". With Kenwright allegedly being sent death threats and the club's deep-rooted problems well-documented, Lampard's time in charge is its own distressing saga.
With that in mind, Mirror Football breaks down what has been another 12 months of turmoil at Goodison Park.
Have your say! Will Everton survive relegation this season? Let us know your prediction in the comments section .
January
Deadline day. Always a joyride for the neutral, not so much if your club is managerless and in desperate need of signings.
That was the situation Everton fans found themselves in as Lampard's appointment was finalised with less than 10 hours to go until the January window slammed shut.
Tthere was room for two new arrivals, namely Donny van de Beek on loan from Manchester United and Dele Alli, leaving Tottenham Hotspur on a free. It was the dawn of a new era, one laced with promise. Lampard, who'd been out of work since being by sacked by Chelsea 12 months prior, brought with him the likes of Ashley Cole and Paul Clement - a Champions League winner as Carlo Ancelotti's No.2 at Real Madrid - to be part of his backroom team and made no bones about the task at hand.
Pundits questioned his ability to battle in a relegation scrap, particularly given that the former England star had hardly ever competed near the bottom of the table in his prestigious career. "The challenge is different but I'm very aware of that," Lampard affirmed. "We will be defined this season over the next 18 games over the work we put in on the training ground."
He also echoed what legendary ex-Everton boss David Moyes said during his first press conference. "I can see why people hold this club in such regard because it's a club that is 'the people's club'."
Lampard said all the right things, but would he deliver?
February
A 4-1 win to start, does it get much better?
Looking nothing like the side who'd lost their last four league games, Lampard's Toffees got off to a rousing start by hammering Brentford in the FA Cup.
Yerry Mina, Richarlison, Mason Holgate and Andros Townsend all got on the scoresheet and a cup run looked like it could be on the cards.
They'd lose on a trip to face a resurgent Newcastle before getting back on track with a comfortable home victory over Leeds. Lampard was experimenting with his side and landed upon a basic 4-4-2, an old-school approach. It was evident, too, that like the good old days, they needed Goodison to be a tough place to visit for opponents.
A 2-0 defeat away to Southampton was followed by a 5-0 thrashing at Spurs and became five successive losses on the road. Lampard and co were reliant on the Goodison magic and nearly sneaked a point when champions Manchester City came to town.
The matchup began in emotional fashion, as Vitaliy Mykolenko and City's Oleksandr Zinchenko were reduced to tears after spectators showed their support for Ukraine, which had recently been invaded by Russia. 90 minutes later and the mood had admittedly changed, certainly amongst. the home fans. Denied what should've been a penalty in the dying embers, Everton were in disbelief.
"Go to VAR, they have two minutes to look at it and to think they have not given that as a penalty when it strikes him on the arm, in an unnatural position," a furious Lampard bemoaned. "I have a three-year-old daughter at home who could tell you that was a penalty."
March
As spring sprung, so did the green shoots of Lampard's coaching. Although the Tottenham hammering and a gut-wrenching 1-0 loss at home to Wolves - with a goal scored by Conor Coady - stung the Toffees, a 1-0 win over Newcastle under the Goodison lights showed the minerals required for a survival push.
Alex Iwobi's 99th-minute clincher secured a vital three points for 10-man Everton, but the game might best be remembered for an incident which occurred much earlier. 21-year-old Louis McKechnie - no, not a youth academy product - caused a standstill during the second half and delayed play by 10 minutes after tying himself to a goalpost.
He was a member of the anti-government group 'Just Stop Oil', as Lampard's message to his players throughout the stoppage was 'just stop goals'. Fortunately they did before Iwobi's winner, but the bitterness soon returned with three defeats on the bounce, beginning with a 4-0 crushing at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.
"I take responsibility," Lampard told club media. "Quarter-final of a cup, start really well control the game, allow a goal from a corner, allow another average goal, and a fluke goal, and another average goal."
A frank assessment.
April
As the clocks turned back, Everton slumped and looked as vulnerable as ever. Losing to West Ham as former manager David Moyes got one over on his old employers, a midweek trip to Burnley was billed as a relegation six-pointer.
Torrential rain poured down at Turf Moor and the home side came away with all three points in dramatic fashion. Everton led at half-time thanks to two Richarlison penalties, only for Burnley to peg them back and Maxwel Cornet score an 86th-minute winner in a Lancashire storm.
Perhaps most stinging were Clarets boss Sean Dyche's post-match comments, revealing that he'd told his players in the dressing room: "They [Everton] don't know how to win."
After another defeat, Lampard walked over to the sodden Everton fans, apologetic but determined. Nine games to go. 27 points to play for. Fourth-bottom. Next up: Manchester United.
Once a formidable prospect, the Red Devils were in their midst of their own turmoil, with Cristiano Ronaldo and co's abysmal season petering out. Although the league table didn't suggest as much, there was a feeling that had a chance Everton - and they took it.
Anthony Gordon, the breakout star of the Toffees' campaign and a boyhood blue, rattled a shot from long range which deflected off United captain Harry Maguire and found its way in. Much in part to the Red Devils' hapless attempts to find an equaliser, Lampard's men clung onto the spoils.
The headlines would still belong to Ronaldo, though, who was eventually charged £50,000 by the FA and banned for two matches after knocking a phone out of a young autistic boy's hand on his way back to the dressing room. There'd be a more jubilation at Goodison before the month ended, as Richarlison's 92nd-minute equaliser earned a crucial point at home to Leicester City
Unfortunately, April ended on a familiar low note - losing at Anfield.
It was a solid performance for much of the 90 minutes, but goals from Andy Robertson and Divock Origi reminded the Toffees that they weren't out of trouble yet, as they approached a six-game last stand.
May
Just as any side battling relegation would like it to be, survival was in Everton's hands. Up first was a mouth-watering clash with Chelsea, Lampard's old club who he'd been ruthlessly sacked by in January 2021.
The West Londoners came to town in a much different shape to the one he'd left them in. His successor, Thomas Tuchel, was now dealing with an uncertain club which owner Roman Abramovich had been forced to sell, ending a glittering 19-year reign. Chelsea were in disarray and like against United, Everton took advantage.
A goal from talisman Richarlison was enough to stave off Tuchel's side, but if it wasn't for the heroics of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, the Toffees wouldn't have stood a chance. Buoyed by the win, Lampard took his men to Leicester and picked up another three points, this time without having to call on Richarlison for a goal.
A 0-0 draw away to doomed Watford threatened to derail Everton's brief resurgence, but surely another home clash with Brentford was the perfect opportunity to seal survival? Instead more madness was about to ensue.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with only his fourth league goal of the campaign, put the Toffees ahead after 10 minutes, only for young defender Jarrad Branthwaite to be shown a straight red card for a last-man challenge soon after. That didn't appear to deter the home team, though, as after Brentford found an equaliser through a Seamus Coleman own goal, Richarlison popped up with a strike on the brink of half-time.
Then, a second-half collapse.
Two goals in three minutes turned the game on its head and the Bees were victors, themselves safe well before crunch time. Everton, who'd ended the game with nine men thanks to a red card from Salomon Rondon, knew deep down that they'd a win from one of their final two games to secure safety.
Enter, Crystal Palace.
Destroyers of the Toffees twice already earlier in the season, Patrick Vieira's man arrived with little to play for - but it didn't stop this one from getting fiery. On a fine Thursday evening, the scene was set by Everton supporters greeting the team bus, as they'd done for previous home games in a bid to boost their team's morale pre-match.
A 2-0 deficit at half-time wasn't the plan. Not to worry, though, as something was in the air at Goodison - and not just the smell of blue smoke bombs. A thumping finish from Michael Keane lifted spirits before Richarlison, netting his 53rd and final goal for the club equalised with 15 minutes remaining.
Palace were flailing, Everton were galvanised and Calvert-Lewin was there, there to nod in a header and affirm the Toffees' place as a Premier League club. Fans raced onto the pitch in ecstasy, although there was still a long way to go in Lampard's mind. After a tense finish, referee Anthony Taylor blew his whistle for the final time and the roof (metaphorically) flew off.
Supporters came down from the stands, revelling in their team's escape. They'd done it. They'd survived. Amid all the happiness, it still got ugly as one fan decided to goad Vieira as he made his way off the pitch - not a bright idea. The Frenchman kicked the supporter, who'd filmed himself screeching: "Suck on that you muppet, get in! F*** off!"
Lampard, in classy fashion, confessed: "I feel for Patrick. I didn't get him at the end. I would have said, 'come in with us' - although he might not have wanted that. Of course he ran 80 yards across the pitch and it's not easy."
What was also memorable were the scenes inside the home dressing room, as Lampard heaped praise on his players and in particular, captain Seamus Coleman. "This fella, to say in front of everyone, is one of the best people I have ever met, as a man and what you are and as a player," the Chelsea legend, who's played alongside some of the greats of modern football declared.
Everything seemed that bit brighter at Goodison, but on top of a 5-1 defeat to Arsenal on the final day, a joint complaint lodged to the Premier League by ultimately relegated Burnley and safe Leeds threw the Toffees' status into jeopardy - briefly. The two clubs asked top-flight chiefs to ensure that none of Everton's financial data from the previous three years 'ends up in the North Sea' before any investigation into alleged breaches of financial fair play rules.
They warned that they were considering bringing a case against Goodison Park officials over whether or not they'd broken FFP laws after it recorded loses of £371.8million. Everton insisted they were "confident" that they hadn't done so, and eventually Burnley were left fighting alone after they dropped to the second tier and Leeds stayed up.
June
You're only as good as your recruitment. Given that Lampard's two late January deals didn't work out so well - with Alli struggling to make any sort of impact and Van de Beek being plagued by injuries - the pressure was on to secure to more reliable additions.
In came James Tarkowski, on a free transfer, and Dwight McNeil for £20million, the ex-Burnley duo were considered too good to head into the Championship. McNeil was perhaps a mercurial talent, but Tarkowski would bring much-needed stability to a back line heavy reliant on an injury prone Yerry Mina, and more business was to be done.
July
Unfortunately for the Toffees, there was also the case of trying to keep hold of their few star players. Having signed Richarlison for £50m in 2018 after just one promising season with Watford, the club's financial situation and the Brazilian's desire to move on, coupled with a £60m offer from Tottenham, gave Everton no option to but sell on the first day of July.
That's because, even with maintaining their Premier League status, the club were facing huge financial difficulties and a new home was arising on the docks. The stadium, due to cost close to £500m - a project which Moshiri continues to proudly champion - is designed to be a Premier League ground, not one hosting Championship football.
Offloading a host of fringe players helped, too, with big-earners Fabian Delph, Cenk Tosun and Gylfi Sigurdsson easing the wage budget.
Alli was also loaned to Besiktas off the back of his horror miss during a humiliating 4-0 defeat to MLS outfit Minnesota United in pre-season. Spoiler: the Turkish club now want to send him back.
August
Finally, the football was back.
With all the talks of finances, Lampard's men could get back on the grass and begin to turn the club's fortunes around in the best way possible. Although the campaign began with a narrow 1-0 loss to Chelsea, two more regular starters arrived the day after in England defender Coady - an experienced local lad on loan from Wolves - and Andre Onana - a highly-rated Belgium international who was brought in for a cool £34m.
Defeat to Aston Villa and draws with Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Leeds meant Lampard's only win in August came in the League Cup third round, as Demarai Gray's goal saw them advance beyond third-tier Fleetwood Town. Three more signings were sealed before the transfer window closed, as Idrissa Gana Gueye returned to the club from Paris Saint-Germain, Neal Maupay came in from Brighton and James Garner was signed from Manchester United.
Lampard also saw success in keeping hold of the exciting Gordon, who Chelsea lodged a £60m bid for. With deadline day behind them, a Merseyside derby was quickly on the horizon.
September
Rarely does a clash with Liverpool go down as a confidence booster for the Toffees, but when Pickford's heroics helped Lampard and co to a 0-0 draw, a feeling of optimism spread. A fortnight on the training ground allowed the 44-year-old to keep working with his new-look squad.
Everton then began to flex their muscles and registered back-to-back wins against fellow strugglers West Ham and Southampton, and the Toffees' solid defensive record - also in part thanks to midfielder Iwobi becoming a force from box to box - hinted that they were becoming hard to beat in the bigger games.
Cue three losses on the bounce in October.
October
Despite being beaten in three successive games, the defeats were to Manchester United, who they'd taken the lead against, a then-sturdy Tottenham and high-flying Newcastle - hardly cause for alarm.
Once again besting Palace on home soil, this time a 3-0 romp, the month ended with an uninspiring 0-0 draw away to now sixth-placed Fulham. Back-to-back clean sheets suggested that Lampard and his coaching staff had constructed a mean defence, with Coady and Tarkowski's partnership appearing to transform the whole the team, giving confidence to those in front.
November
As the World Cup dawned, Everton bid to end the first part of the campaign on a high. A home clash with bottom-three side Leicester City was set up to be three points for the taking, but the Foxes were beginning a turnaround of their own and nabbed a 2-0 win to Goodison's dismay.
Rumbles of whether Lampard was the right man for the job re-emerged, and the whispers became shouts after two torrid trips to Bournemouth in the space of five days. First losing 4-1 in the League Cup, fans who'd made the gruelling journey down to the south coast on a chilly Tuesday night fumed.
Surely the Toffees would make amends on Saturday and bow out on a high? Not quite: Bournemouth 3-0 Everton.
So angry at their side's second poor performance, one fan even threw Iwobi's shirt back at him, as Lampard came over and attempted to cool tempers - an almost impossible challenge in the heat of the Vitality Stadium.
December
Thanks to our focus being on Qatar for much of the next month, Lampard had time to escape the pressure and take his side to Australia for a mid-season tour. Wins against Celtic and Western Sydney Wanderers didn't do any harm.
What's done the damage has been Everton's form since Christmas. They began throwing away the lead on Boxing Day at home to fellow strugglers Wolves, who scored a 95th-minute winner to leave Goodison a pit of fury. Somehow, though, the Toffees earned a 1-1 draw away to Manchester City on New Year's Eve to offer some hope ahead of 2023, as defender Ben Godfrey's man-marking job helped frustrate a wound-up Erling Haaland.
January
If you've made it to this stage, you'll be able to predict the next part: another false dawn. In undoubtedly Lampard's lowest ebb since taking over, Brighton pulled off a 4-1 hammering on Merseyside to spark the aforementioned ire for the supporters towards the board.
Hapless defending allowed the Seagulls to score three goals inside six second-half minutes and Lampard's job looked to be in serious jeopardy. A keenly-fought FA Cup defeat to Manchester United offered some hope for Toffees fans, but it was all on the following Saturday's six-pointer against Southampton, a side who were in even worse league form than Everton.
As the afternoon began with the news of Everton's board avoiding the match, things looked to be remedying when Belgian starlet Onana gave the hosts the lead. Ahead at half-time, this was the chance for Lampard to cement his side's advantage and hold out for a much-needed victory.
In the second period, Everton merely held out for 60 seconds as Saints captain James Ward-Prowse scored the first of two goals and ramped up the fury at Goodison. A large section of supporters stayed behind in the ground, unfurling banners against the ownership which were seen last January as the club found itself in the same sticky situation.
"Built by Sir John Moores now on death's doors," was perhaps the most striking of a cluster of messages on display both before and after the match. The mood from supporters, understandable as it was, wasn't what Lampard and his players needed.
"We're in a tough moment so everything can look tough and feel tough but in terms of my abilities, I always remain confident about that," the under-fire boss admitted. "I know I'm not a miracle worker and I know I'm not the best coach in the world – to proclaim that would be stupid because so many people have got successes behind them – but I know I'll work as hard as I can to be as good as I can be and that's it.
"I have to work with the team that I've got and find a way to make us as good as can be. The message to the fans is that I want to create a team that can fight, show passion, I show that myself to be fair."
Majority shareholder Moshiri even took to TalkSPORT to defend his ownership and urge fans to cut Lampard some slack. "Sometimes, we just need to be patient. We drove out Roberto Martinez, Marco Silva, Ronald Koeman. They're all good managers. I think a manager should be given time. He's a hard-working, very good manager and we should support him," the English-Iranian businessman claimed.
"I'm building a big stadium, I put £400million in it, and the future of the club is revenue from the new stadium... "I put my money where my mouth is and that is all an owner can do. I've done that. Some of the decisions we've taken have been with the fans, all the managers who were driven out by the fans, not by me. I have a lot of faith in Frank. I think you have to stay with the manager to get the systems going with the players he buys. He is a thinking man and he'll get it right."
His comments were followed by ugly scenes on those same streets we began on, with Colombian powerhouse Mina getting out of his car to front-up to fans, while some of them chased local lad Gordon.
A visit to face Moyes' West Ham next Saturday is being billed as 'El Sackico', with both managers on the brink.
"I don't know where they go, and I don't know where Frank goes from here," ex-Toffees striker Andy Gray admitted on beIN Sports.
"If I've been there a year and I've had two transfer windows and I've shaped a team the way I want - plenty of players have come in since Frank's been there, and it's his team - and I haven't moved them forward... I would say, 'Maybe this is for someone else. Maybe somebody can do a better job than me'."
Well-liked behind the scenes and still with the backing of some supporters, Lampard faces two destinies: be the man to save Everton again or take the grand old team down to the second tier for the first time in 72 years.
Moshiri's dream of seeing his new stadium adorned with Premier League branding is steadily drifting down the Mersey, further from reality with each passing game. Twelve months after Lampard was hired, it's a case of deja vu once again for long-suffering supporters.
