LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – The odds on Everton manager Frank Lampard getting the sack tumbled on Tuesday after a dismal 4-1 home defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion left them just above the Premier League relegation zone.
Bookmakers William Hill were offering odds of 1/5 on the former England international becoming the next Premier League manager to get the sack after a dire performance that saw his team booed by the home fans at Goodison Park.
“You are not going to win every week. We have to get back to the work. It is as simple as that. I am a Premier League football manager, there is pressure in the job wherever you are,” Lampard told Sky Sports following the Brighton defeat.
With his team in 16th place on 15 points, three ahead of bottom side Southampton, Lampard and his players had a long discussion about what went wrong against the Seagulls at fulltime, but he remained tight-lipped about what was said.
“I won’t go through what was said in the dressing room afterwards, it’s up to us to put it right and we go again against Manchester united in a few days,” Lampard told reporters.
After holding champions Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in their last game, Everton were booed off by the Goodison Park faithful at halftime when they went in 1-0 down to Brighton, but the worst was yet to come.
A woeful spell saw the visitors net three goals between the 51st and 57th minutes, with Everton’s only response coming from the penalty spot in second-half stoppage time.
“Very disappointing. It was even in the first half I would say, in general play it was pretty even, (then) three goals in six minutes, defensive mistakes, finishes the game,” he said.
The former England international did not rule out adding players to his squad as he tried to hold on to his job.
“We are trying to help the squad. We will look at that,” he said.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Toby Davis)