Sean Dyche has asked even the “most disgruntled Evertonians to give us a chance” as the club’s new manager called for unity during a testing moment in the team’s history but made it clear that the task ahead will not be easy.

The 51-year-old could hardly have chosen a bigger challenge than answering the ailing Merseyside club’s emergency call as he resumes his managerial career with a side seemingly spiralling towards the second tier of English football. Pulling on past experiences with Burnley may aid the new incumbent of the Everton hotseat.

The troubled club are onto their fifth permanent manager in five years and strife is rife after nine defeats and one win brought an end to Frank Lampard’s time in charge. It is the fans’ escalating discontent with the club’s ownership, something that Dyche cannot directly address, that has plunged Everton into disarray, but the new manager has called on everyone to pull together in the club’s survival push.

The message is clear — unity. Even the most disgruntled Evertonians, give us a chance and stick by the team because they are important, they’re very important,” said Dyche, who has already overseen three training sessions since being officially appointed on Monday on a two-and-a-half year contract.

“I’m reaching out to them, we’ll give you honesty, work ethic, all we ask is give us a window to breathe, get ourselves going, play your role in that.

“It’s easy to take the wheel of the ship in calm water, not so much when it’s choppy water, we want the fans to play a part in that. It is choppy waters, there is no denying that. The club is not where it wants to be. But we want the fans to join in with us, to reconnect with us.

“It’s easy to say, I’ve got to earn my spurs, I’m a Marmite manager anyway — not everyone wants you. We’ve got to put the hard yards in, some players have earned that but I want to remind them that they have to give.

Getty: Tony McArdle

“We want them to support from the off, wear their hearts on their sleeves, even the ones who have angles, questions, if they can park it for a little while and hopefully reconnect with us.”

'We have to polish players up a bit'

The fans’ frustrations with the board will not disappear, and the sight of a transfer window that saw record spending in the Premier League completely pass Everton by will not install confidence in a hierarchy that seemed to lack a plan or foresight.

While relegation rivals like Bournemouth, Leeds United and Southampton strengthened their squads with new signings, Everton spent zero despite selling winger Anthony Gordon to Newcastle United for a reported £40 million. It means Dyche will have to make do and mend with a squad that look ill-equipped for a survival battle and severely lack an attacking threat.

But he defended chairman Bill Kenwright and director of football Kevin Thelwell as he insisted he only wanted signings who could have strengthened his side and said Everton had made bids for players.

He said: “I managed to get here Saturday and all I have seen is hard work, particularly in the recruitment area: the owner, the chairman, Kevin, myself, I have been leaving here late at night, Kev was on the phone constantly, the chairman was on the phone constantly. I saw it, I was there. It is fair to say loads of phone calls were made and offers were put in.

Getty: Tony McArdle

The former Burnley manager suggested players who are available on free transfers are unlikely to join now because they probably are not good enough. “Sometimes players are there for a reason, there is a reason they are not at clubs,” he said.

Dyche believes there is enough talent in the squad he inherited to mean he did not have to buy anyone else. “The things that get overlooked is they have to be better than what we have here,” he added.

I think we have some very talented players here and I have never been one for signing players for the sake of signing them. I am not going to sign players for the sake of signing them and never see them again. They have to be good enough to affect it.

“We want to find a style that they are productive in, we’re aware the goal count isn’t as high as we want, conceding isn’t as bad. The middle is up for debate but both boxes is the most important thing. That’s the focus.

Getty: Tony McArdle

"There’s no point being worried about it, it is what it is. We are where we are. Managing the situation has always been what I’ve believed in, not when the goalposts are changing, I know the situation.

'Table doesn't lie'

If Dyche’s crash course in the modern Everton is not complete after the first few days then he will plunge into the deep end when Arsenal visit on Saturday.

The league leaders have lost just once in the league so far this term and, under former Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta, are favourites to win their first league title since the 2003-04 season and can open an eight-point gap over Manchester City if they win on Saturday.

Everton, who sit in 19th place, are 35 points worse off than Arsenal and Dyche accepted his team deserve to be in the relegation zone now. “The table doesn’t lie,” he admitted. “We are there for a reason and it is how we correct it. I think there are some very good players here, maybe not performing at the level they can.

“I don’t think you can have magic dust. It comes from hard work, the players are the ones that turn it around. There’s good players here. They may not have shown, but we need to remind ourselves of the good players here. We’ve got to polish them up a bit.

VAVEL Logo
About the author