Frank Lampard 'tried' but only spent 50p after 'miracle' move Everton from 16th to 16th

How can anyone even consider firing Frank Lampard after he took Everton from 16th to 16th and then spent 50p/£85.5m?

Frankly absurd Frank Lampard is struggling at Everton, so of course the Frank Lampard apologists are also out in force.

I'm not sure £85.5m should be rounded up to 50p, Mike.

Lampard spent £20m on Dwight McNeil, £33m on Amadou Onana, £15m on Neal Maupay just a year before his £15.5m contract at Brighton ended sterling for James Garner and £2million for Idrissa Gueye.

And they suck. Absolute shit.

In the Daily Telegraph, Chris Bascombe argues that we should really feel sorry for Lampard.

"Sympathy may be rare for a manager who has tried to squeeze an ounce of quality out of a limited squad - at a club where every penny spent is subject to microscopic scrutiny by the Financial Fair Play office - but it shouldn't be.'

Poor Frank. He tried.

“It will be no consolation for Frank Lampard that he secured the second miracle in what now looks like a brief Goodison reign on Tuesday night.

"If preserving Everton's Premier League status last season was his greatest managerial feat, being still in charge when the full-time whistle ended his most heartbreaking evening of football seemed just as unlikely."

Ah, the 'miracle' of Everton survival in which Lampard took over a Toffees side in 16th place and just four points clear of relegation. And finished the season in 16th place and just four points clear of relegation.

Christ the Savior is born.

“Bloody appetites will naturally be Lampard's scapegoat for Everton's dismal position, ignoring the years of meticulous planning undertaken at Brighton to assert such superiority. They even had the luxury of bringing a World Cup winner, Alexis Mac Allister, off the bench with the points long secured. '

Indeed. Although they also started with an 18-year-old striker, let's have some balance here. Brighton are an incredibly well run club and Everton are clearly not, but can it be argued that Roberto de Zerbi wouldn't have done a better job at Goodison Park than Lampard?

‘The truth is that Lampard is as much to blame for scolding evenings like this as Rafael Benítez, Marco Silva, Ronald Koeman, Roberto Martínez and even Sam Allardyce on their final days. They are all managers of varying pedigree and popularity whose reputations have been tainted by the trauma of trying to negotiate what increasingly looks like the Premier League's impossible job. '

There is some truth here, but none of these managers were as bad as Lampard. Let's look at the points per game of all these managers - and add Carlo Ancelotti, because Bascombe obviously forgot about him:

Roberto Martinez: 1.56Ronald Koeman: 1.48Sam Allardyce: 1.42Marco Silva: 1.38Carlo Ancelotti: 1.6Rafa Benitez: 1.14Frank Lampard: 1.07

But at least he tried.

Misery Loves Company As Mediawatch makes a long-awaited return after a long Christmas hiatus, it's nice to see that some things really haven't changed, like the Sun's miserable Mark Irwin reveling in misery .

After months of having to feign excitement and optimism as Arsenal built an unlikely lead at the top of the Premier League table, he jumped at the chance to write about the tragedy of the Gunners' draw against Newcastle United.< /p>

"MIKEL ARTETA endured another night of Toon torture as Arsenal's hopes of opening a ten-point lead at the top of the League were thwarted by Newcastle spoilers."

“Another night of Toon torture” indeed. That a draw eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table is just as painful as a 2-0 defeat that effectively ended their first four hopes last season. What did Mikel Arteta do to deserve such "torture"?

"While the consequences of this setback were not nearly as severe for the trailing leaders, it certainly was not the case at the final whistle."

To Mikel Arteta perhaps - he was apoplectic with rage at officials and anyone who crossed his path - but a journalist's job is to be a bit more sober and add a bit of perspective.

"Failure to score for the first time in the league all season opened the door for Manchester City to close the gap at the top to five points with a win at Chelsea on Thursday night."

If you had told Arsenal fans in August that they would "open the door to Manchester C...