Have been vocal about having concerns about him. Slightly long post coming up, but stick with it until the end as there's some positives...
The Bad
- I think he's effectively been parachuted into the good jobs before he got here. Derby, he's more or less admitted, gave him the job because of his dad and Chelsea gave him the job because he's Frank Lampard.
- Derby, unlike now, were fairly big-spending at the time and I would argue he did more or less the bare minimum to have been considered to have done an acceptable job there. He didn't get them up, got one point fewer than Gary Rowett had the season before and the underlying data (xG etc) is a huge concern as it suggests they were one of the luckiest sides in recent years.
- Chelsea - he was brought in during their transfer embargo and, as a result, benefitted from a slightly lower level of expectation, despite the fact he inherited a top 4 quality squad. His Chelsea side just about scraped into the top 4, largely due to how badly Leicester fell away at the end of the season and they had comfortably the worst defensive record in the division. The following season Chelsea invested big money to back him and, despite a promising start, he tailed off and got sacked while having a squad like that in 9th place. To illustrate the point further, the new manager comes in, turns it round immediately and then, to put the cherry on top, wins the Champions League.
I think there's enough there to harbour some doubts about the appointment.
I also didn't get the clamour for Lampard to be appointed boss, given the stuff above. It felt like it eventually became a binary choice between Lampard and Pereira and, while I understand the antipathy towards Pereira, I don't think either of them stand up that well to scrutiny and the bigger questions being asked should have been why they were the final two candidates, rather than why it wasn't obvious that Lampard was a no-brainer.
The Good
For balance though, it would be unfair to ignore the positives and potentially mitigating circumstances around the stuff above.
- Derby - it was his first job. I've said he delivered the bare minimum, maybe it's unrealistic to expect anything more than that in your first season in your managerial career. He got further than Bielsa did in that season, so perhaps it's underplaying what he did.
- Chelsea - the transfer ban meant a focus on bringing young players through, and whether it was forced or not, it's difficult to deny that he did this well. Mason Mount and Reece James are now England regulars, which they weren't close to before Lampard went there. The defensive record can be explained slightly by looking at Kepa's individual stats which were the worst in a good while for any top level keeper. The underlying data (xG etc) I've used against him in the Derby role are actually the opposite for his Chelsea spell - he comes out of it really well and it suggests Chelsea's results didn't do justice to how they played.
- I think the style of play Lampard has had so far would probably go down well here, certainly more so than what we've seen over the last year.
- I've been impressed with the back room team he's brought in. He appears to have been able to take some highly-rated Chelsea coaches and Paul Clement, whilst a failure as a manager, was a really well-respected coach so that's also potentially a clever move
- There's little doubt that, for whatever reason, the fanbase seems to be fairly united behind the appointment. That bodes well. We absolutely need unity again and for the toxicity to dissipate. Whatever anyone says, an encouraging Goodison is much easier to play in than a hostile one
- Listening to his interviews and reading some articles, it appears that he's spent a lot of time over the last 12 months reflecting on what mistakes he made and what he can improve. That's a positive. If he'd made excuses or looked to spread the blame (like a few ex-managers I can remember here) I'd have been more concerned.
- He does seem to place a certain level of importance on younger players. That's something we will always get behind.
So, overall, I won't pretend that I think this is an appointment which was a no-brainer. I think it's fair to have reservations about it. That said, if I reflect back 4 weeks to how I felt on 1st January and how I feel today, it's night and day. I feel far more optimistic about our prospects than I did a month ago, so it can't be all bad?
