Everton captain Seamus Coleman holds players responsible for Frank Lampard’s sacking

Everton captain Seamus Coleman has opened up on the sacking of Frank Lampard, revealing that the players played a huge part in the manager’s demise.

Lampard was relieved of his duties despite helping to guide Everton to Premier League survival last season, but an expected turnaround in fortunes did not materialise. The club are in the relegation zone once again this term.

Speaking to TalkSport, Coleman was extremely open and spoke with the type of passion you would want from a captain, but ultimately he feels the players have to take responsibility.

He said: “We have lost another manager and for me, personally, I have seen I don’t know how many managers now. You are not innocent from it all and you have played a part in another manager getting sacked. Us as players have been a massive part of that as well.

“It is not just a case of you see one manager off and another comes in, it hits you hard. When a manager goes it is a reflection of what we have done on the pitch and what I have done as a captain as well.”

Perhaps some of the sentiment from Coleman comes from the fact that the pair were extremely close during Lampard’s time at the club. The former Chelsea manager leaned on the experienced Irish defender, who’s totalled 398 games in over a decade at the club.

In the midst of the celebrations following their comeback win over Crystal Palace last season to confirm their Premier League survival, a video went viral for Lampard singleing out Coleman in front of all the players and staff in a heartfelt interaction that was certainly an endearing moment at a time of great adulation.

Lampard described Coleman as ‘one of the best people he’s ever met’ as he was greeted by cheers and applause from a jubliant dressing room.

But the 34-year-old remianed defiant as his attention turned to the Sean Dyche era, which begins with a match against Arsenal on Saturday and the captain is ready to ‘flip the negativity’ and change the mood at Goodison.

“We are still within touching distance of a lot of teams so I would like to flip all the negativity into thinking we can turn this around. I feel like a lot of talk is that it’s inevitable and some people are sitting, waiting and even hoping Everton go down.

“We know with the fan-base we have and with the quality in the dressing room that if we can come together, without thinking we are too big to go down, we will give ourselves the best possible chance.”