Izuchukwu Okosi
Everton Football Club on Monday appointed former Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard as new head coach on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
The 41-year-old who last coached his former playing club Chelsea replaces Rafael Benitez, who was sacked earlier this month after one win in 13 games.
It is Lampard’s first job since he was sacked by Chelsea a year ago with Thomas Tuchel taking his role.
“It is a huge honour for me to represent and manage a club with the size and tradition of Everton,” Lampard said in his forest Everton interview.
“I’m very hungry to get started,” the Chelsea legend added.
Lampard’s first match in charge will be Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Brentford at Goodison Park.
His first signing at Everton is expected to be Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek, who is set to join the Toffees on loan for the rest of the season.
Former Chelsea and Manchester City player Lampard, who won 106 caps for England, is tasked with keeping Everton in the top-flight as the club are 16th and just four points above the relegation zone.
Lampard said he felt the “passion and ambition” of owner Farhad Moshiri, chairman Bill Kenwright and the Everton board in talks over the role.
“I hope they felt my ambition and how hard I want to work to bring it together.
“You can feel the passion Everton fans have for their club – that will be hugely important.
“As a team – the competitive level that the Premier League brings and the position we are in the table – we certainly need that. It’s a two-way thing.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
Follow Us