Everton problems do not end with Frank Lampard but they definitely include him

In the space of six second-half minutes Everton fell apart against Brighton, and Frank Lampard’s remaining credibility as their manager went with it.

Gone in 360 seconds. In the space of six short minutes at Goodison Park the last vestiges of credibility for Frank Lampard as the Everton manager fell apart, just as his team did on the pitch. The result leaves them in 16th place in the Premier League table, but that raw number alone only tells part of the story.

Brighton’s fourth goal seemed to encapsulate the disordered gloom that has descended over them. It started, somehow, with an Everton free-kick on the left-hand side of the Brighton penalty area, which was hopelessly overhit towards no-one in particular by Dwight McNeil. The ball worked its way back to Idrissa Gueye on the opposite touchline near the halfway line and his pass was… inexplicable, into a gaping hole in the middle of the Everton defence. Pascal Gross danced through to put the visitors 4-0 up.

The contrast was stark. Brighton are everything that Everton need to be at the moment, but simply aren’t; strategically-minded, with sensible player and coaching recruitment, costs under control and a sense that they can overcome hurdles that have been put in their way through no fault of their own other than their relative success. Earlier this week, they welcomed back World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister with ticker tape. Everton welcomed back Dominic Calvert-Lewin from injury and then booed him off when he was substituted, 83 minutes later.

But while it’s easy to say that the problems at Goodison Park run deeper than Frank Lampard alone, that doesn’t mean that they don’t include Frank Lampard. True enough, he met the minimum requirement of keeping them in the Premier League at the end of last season, but Everton are the Grand Old Team. They have higher expectation levels than to be treading water, doing just enough to remain in the top flight come the end of each season.

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Lampard looked as though he may have bought himself a little time with a draw at Manchester City. Previous performances had been more like the Brighton game, a last-minute home defeat to Wolves, a 7-1 aggregate defeat in two games over the course of four days in the EFL Cup and league to Bournemouth, a home defeat to Leicester City. It wasn’t just that Everton had been losing matches, it’s…