Lampard says ‘fans are realists’ after Everton defeat to West Ham, surely this is the final nail in the coffin

Everton lost their fourth game on the bounce today in a 2-0 defeat to West Ham which was a huge match in the context of the relegation battle.

In a game that was billed as ‘El Sackico,’ it seems almost certain that this will be the final nail in the coffin for Frank Lampard, who, behind  David Moyes, was the favourite to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job.

The defeat came at the hands of boyhood Liverpool supporter Jarrod Bowen, who scored a brace to send Everton to join-bottom of the league table alongside Southampton – making this the Toffees’ worst start to a season since 1994.

Despite the costly loss, Lampard praised his player’s ‘spirit’ during the game, but also admitted that the fans have every right to be frustrated.

Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “I didn’t see the fan protests. The fans support us and travel a long way for us. It was a strange game, we had a load of control possession wise but the killer instinct in their team was better than ours. In terms of tactical control, we had a lot.

“It is a big job, I knew that when I took the job because we were looking at a relegation battle then. We had a big fight and stayed in the league.

“We lost Richarlison and now have tried to build around that so it is normal we are fighting again, when other clubs are trying to move on.

“I don’t want to tell how Everton fans how to feel, my job its to give everything in the job here. We had a lot of possession but were short in the final third.

Indeed, while Lampard may be correct about Richarlison being a huge loss for the Toffees, Evertonians know that these are the same excuses he has been giving week in, week out.

They may have had the better of the possession, but Everton created very little clear cut chances, leaving questions over where the goals are going to come from. They are expected to sign Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal, but they will need more than just him.

With just one win in their last 14 games, you would think it is inevitable that Lampard loses his job in the coming days, or perhaps even this evening.

“It is impossible for me to jump into the future, last season we were five points shy of safety with five or six games to go but as a club we have to move together.

“I cannot complain about the spirit of the players and how they approached the game. They may have passed it slow but we didn’t find it in the final third.

“Fans are realists, they have watched the team over the…