Sean Dyche is intent on laying the foundations of a winning culture at Everton.
The Blues boss has spent just over a month on Merseyside and has led his side to two victories in his opening five games. He is well aware more will be needed if Everton are to avoid relegation.
But Dyche said he is focused on looking deeper at issues within the club in the hope he can create a feeling of winning that can underpin longer-term progress. Key to that is transparency with the players about everything he and his staff are trying to achieve.
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Dyche was appointed to the Goodison Park hotseat in late January and has experienced a rollercoaster of performances in his short time at the club. His team were deserved winners against league leaders Arsenal in his opening game then competed with the same opponent for 40 minutes at the Emirates in midweek. The Blues then collapsed in the second half of that most recent game in a performance reminiscent of some of the low points of this season so far. A vital win against Leeds United came between a disappointing Merseyside derby defeat at Anfield and a home loss to Aston Villa that could so easily have gone the other way.
While the footballing world has been able to witness the early games of his regime, much more has taken place behind the scenes, where Dyche says important unseen work is continuing. Asked what he had been most pleased with since joining Everton, he pointed to the response he had received to the new ideas and approach he was introducing to Finch Farm.
Dyche, who takes his team to Nottinhgam Forest today for a vitally important encounter (2pm), said: “I think the most pleasing thing has been a very open-mindedness from staff and players alike. There is a real love of the club from the staff here, existing staff, some of which are true Blues, and proper Blue noses who have a passion and real desire for the club. That has been really obvious. Then, going on more as a player point of view, the acceptance - the acceptance of change, the acceptance to go, ‘right, okay, we’re listening, we’re on board’. I asked them for feedback and they were very honest and very open. That’s all you can ask for. That and hard work, trust, loyalty, care and attention to each other. It is shared - it is not just ‘me’ and ‘them’ - it’s both ways.”
Developing that relationship between his coaching team and the players is key to making progress on the pitch, Dyche believes. And if they are willing to continue to listen to his ideas then he hopes it will consistently bring Everton points through performances. He explained: “If that respect grows, that doesn’t win you a game, but we are on about trying to transform a group to win more games and it is a process and that is what we are in now. There is no naivety, I know you have to win games - by hook or crook - but I always try and plan a way of working that wins games because you need longevity. If you win a few by luck then that is great, we all take it and it is amazing, but there is no real future in just hoping. You don’t just hope to do well, we try to design to do well and explain that to the players - every step we make, everything is explained to the players.”
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