“There's a chance. I'll find out about that. There's not been any depth, there have been peripheral talks based on ifs, buts and maybes. But that will come over the coming weeks when we find out the truth of what we have got, what we can do, what we can't do.”
In the immediate aftermath of Everton’s Premier League survival-clinching victory over Bournemouth, Sean Dyche used his post-match press conference as a platform to highlight the necessity for change at the club.
Everton is a massive club that is underperforming, was essentially his message. To change that, he will need time. He will also need one other key ingredient if he is to have a chance of moving Everton forward: Clarity.
Dyche has shown since his appointment that he can make a threadbare and mismatched squad competitive in the world’s most prestigious sporting league. There were times when it was a struggle - even he ran out of alternative plans for the brief period he had neither Abdoulaye Doucoure nor Dominic Calvert-Lewin available. But there was no doubt Everton were heading into trouble when he was appointed and yet he ultimately led the club to survival.
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Undoubtedly the majority of Evertonians who fill in our ECHO big forum survey will agree one thing. That clarity is more important than money this summer. Dyche is a pragmatist, a realist. While he burns at the claims he does not wish to play beautiful football - arguing if he has the space and resources to build towards it then he will - he will accept there will be times when results come first.
This is a useful mindset to have at the helm of Everton this summer, one which looks set to feature another transfer window in which the club has limited funds to work with. Those words at the start of this article were Dyche’s, words he spoke after being asked whether he would need to ‘sell to buy’ over the coming months. More than a week later one would hope the conversations he refers to have taken place - that he knows the ‘truth’ of this transfer window. Because if Dyche knows what he is working with and has plenty of time to prepare for it, it is not unreasonable to think he could come up with a plan that still helps Everton to be competitive next season.
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What cannot be the case is a situation like last summer. Despite best intentions, Everton was a club that was still rebuilding and reacting until the final day of the window. The Idrissa Gueye deal was protracted and over the month or so of talks Everton started the season with a makeshift central midfield as injuries bit. The loss of Dominic Calvert-Lewin to an injury on the eve of the campaign was unfortunate, but Frank Lampard’s squad was exposed because there had been no immediate move to replace Richarlison despite his early departure. Lampard was sufficiently frustrated and emboldened to highlight this as early as mid-July.
In the end, Neal Maupay arrived with five games of the season already played having not had a pre-season and into a set-up that was not designed to meet his strengths. Then in January everyone from Lampard to majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri expected attacking reinforcements. Not only did none arrive but Anthony Gordon was sold late into the month. Had that deal been concluded weeks earlier then the money it brought in may have helped to get a couple of deals over the line.
The only predictable element of transfer windows is the unpredictability of them. But with funds potentially limited and a clear programme of strengthening required, Dyche needs to know the context in which he is operating as soon as possible. That includes the blueprint the club wants to follow to progress. Eighteen months ago the club’s board launched a strategic review that aimed for a cultural reset within its footballing operation. Both Lampard and director of football Kevin Thelwell were appointments said to have been inspired by the findings of the review. Now Lampard has gone, what takes priority if Dyche’s views do not align with those laid out in the review?
Clarity of funds and clarity of vision are fundamental to Everton moving forward. Only with them will Dyche have a fair chance of building towards the better future he and so many others associated with the club want to see.
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