Cause for concern at Everton as potential relegation looms

It’s time to worry at Merseyside. The famed Everton Football Club’s season has continued to go from bad to worse since the return of the Premier League on Boxing Day, with the Toffees sitting 19^th in the table at the time of writing. With four losses and a draw since returning from the FIFA World Cup break, Everton are now at real risk of being relegated to the Championship for the first time since 1950-51.

That will be a devastating blow for the Farhad Moshiri-owned club, as not only will they miss out on the domestic and international broadcasting deals that are worth north of £80 million – but also – given the depth of the Championship – an immediate return to the top-flight in subsequent seasons isn’t guaranteed for the boys in blue.

With his job on the line, current manager Frank Lampard will need to turn his side’s fortunes around quickly. However, with a tough February schedule that includes fixtures against league leaders Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa – all of whom are eight places or more above them in the table – that’s easier said than done.

With that being said, while Jordan Pickford and company may have a tough time securing points against the aforementioned squads, there are also some winnable games against Leeds United and Nottingham Forest awaiting them next month. While both teams are five and six places above them in the table respectively – only five points separates them.

Couple that with the fact that the Lampard-managed outfit secured draws with both teams earlier in the season – and this pair of games is shaping up to be crucial in the context of Everton’s campaign. Whether or not Lampard will be at the helm for them is a whole other question, with the 44-year-old the second favourite in the betting odds on the premier league at 5/2 to be sacked at the time of writing – only behind that of West Ham top man David Moyes.

That’s in spite of the support Moshiri threw behind Lampard last week, who stated that the merry-go-round of managers the club has seen in recent years needs to change.

“Some of the decisions we have taken have been together with the fans. All the managers that have left, they have been driven by the fans, not by me initially,” he said.

“You’ve got to stay with a manager to get the systems going, the players that he buys. I have a lot of faith in Frank, he’ll get it right.”

That’s on the pitch – away from it – the club has even greater headaches, with its fans making international headlines for their behaviour. After setting off fireworks outside of the visiting Southampton’s hotel prior to their Premier League clash, it was also confirmed that a fan had placed Chief Executive Officer Denise Barrett-Baxendale in a headlock after a recent home game.

It’s further turmoil in what has been a horrible season at Goodison Park, and if they can’t manage to rectify their issues over the coming months – there’s a good chance we will seem them fighting for their Premier League survival in May.