Everton have sacked manager Frank Lampard due to the club being second bottom of the Premier League table.
The sacking follows a 2-0 defeat against fellow strugglers West Ham United with their manager David Moyes reportedly set to face the axe if he was to get beat by Everton.
That loss is after a run of torrid form which has seen Everton go eight Premier League games without a win and in all competitions this campaign they have only won four games leaving them out of both the FA Cup and League Cup as well as in yet another relegation battle.
Lampard was hired one year ago and was viewed as one of the reasons as to why Everton stayed in the division by the skin of their teeth.
However any feel good factor he was able to bring to the club has quickly evaporated with the toxicity around Everton being at an all-time high as it appears to be even worse than when former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was in charge.
The former Chelsea legends job seemed under huge threat after back-to-back defeats away to Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup and the Premier League but instead the Everton board kept him in charge when the World Cup break was taking place.
After the break The Blues went onto lose five of their six games with three of them being against Wolverhampton, Southampton and West Ham who are all very much in a relegation battle themselves.
It is expected that Paul Tait and Leighton Baines are to take the immediate training sessions however it remains to be seen if they will take charge of their next game which is against the league leaders Arsenal.
That isn’t until the 4th February though so the hope will be that there is a permanent figure in charge at Goodison Park for then but who will it be this time under Farhad Moshiri?
The first name on everyone’s lips has been Sean Dyche as the former Burnley manager has been out of a job since last season when he left Burnley who eventually got relegated.
On a shoestring budget Dyche overall was a huge success at The Clarets as he kept them in the Premier League for a sustained period of time even getting them into Europe one year as he finished 7th.
His go to system was a 4-4-2 with his Burnley side being strong and no-nonsense in defence which resulted in not a particularly aesthetically pleasing playing style however it was effective for a long time and could be viewed as a way of getting Everton out of trouble.
The favourite though is former Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa who like Dyche hasn’t been in a job since last season as he was sacked after four losses on the bounce however he was loved by the Leeds faithful.
He took over Leeds in the Championship and after two seasons he took Leeds United from mid-table to the Premier League with a style of play which excited everyone watching them, but it is high risk high reward football.
In their first season back in the Premier League under Bielsa they stayed up and excelled as at one point they were possibly challenging for Europe as they finished 9th one place above Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton side.
Whether the players currently at Everton are suited to Bielsa’s playstyle is a reason why it may be a big risk but any appointment mid-season in a relegation battle is a risk.
Bielsa and Dyche are the two frontrunners for the job but other names such as Ralph Hasenhuttl and Wayne Rooney have also been linked.
Hassenhuttl was sacked by Southampton not long ago but he did keep The Saints afloat in the league for a few years with a pressing style of play which did excite fans but it appeared that he had lost the dressing room a few weeks into this season.
Rooney has not had a long spell in managerial roles with a brief and tough spell at Derby County due to points deductions but he received lots of praise for how he managed to keep spirts high with practically no budget.
He has since went to America to take charge of DC United and he is now preparing for a new MLS season with the club he played for so it would be a surprise to see him leave before having a full season.
Whoever is hired has a massive job on their hands but any manager with a clear style of play should improve this Everton side as Lampard seemed to not one towards the end of his tenure.
He brought the club together last season but now the club has never been so divided.
