Where has it all gone wrong for Everton? Frank Lampard facing major challenge to avoid the drop

It all began so well. When Frank Lampard began his Everton reign a little more than two months ago with a crushing 4-1 FA Cup win over Brentford, Toffees fans dared to dream of a bright new era.

After the miserable end of the hugely unpopular Rafa Benitez’s time in charge, Lampard was feeling the love and overwhelmed by the reception.

‘The reaction they had to myself was something I was just amazed by in a really good way,’ he said.

How quickly things change. Should a team that has taken just six points on the road all season lose at West Ham tomorrow and Burnley next Wednesday, their 68-year stay in the top division will be in real jeopardy.

And even staving off that threat may not be enough to save Lampard, who accused his team of ‘lacking the b******* to play’ after their last game.

How has it come to this?

Everton’s problems go back beyond Lampard’s time in charge, before even the much-maligned Benitez. Owner Farhad Moshiri’s six-year reign has seen him invest a reported £600million in the club.

But what do Everton have to show for it? There has been no tangible sign of a strategy as a succession of big-name managers and expensive players have gone through the revolving doors.

Farhad has hired and fired Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce and Marco Silva and seen Carlo Ancelotti leave for Real Madrid last summer — reportedly for less money than Everton offered to keep him.

On the field millions have been spent on the likes of James Rodriguez, Moise Kean, Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph with little success.

Meanwhile, Moshiri’s tie with Alisher Usmanov saw the club lose millions in sponsorship revenue when the Russian billionaire became the target of government sanctions last month.

If supporters were disappointed to lose Ancelotti, it