Column
By his own admission, Sean Dyche only got the job at what remains one of the country’s biggest clubs – even if they haven’t been acting up to that status for quite a while now – because of his lowly status in the game. Having briefly cut his teeth at Watford and then spending the vast majority of his career trying to keep Burnley in the top flight, his CV was not one that was ever going to land him one of the top jobs.
He may have inherited a small squad at a club that was in the middle of fighting back-to-back battles against relegation, but there was an opportunity with the smattering of quality that exists in the Everton squad for him to at least start to demonstrate whether there was in fact a top English coach hiding beneath that gruff exterior and pragmatic reputation.
If that was the question, the answer – on the evidence of 15 months of inconsistent results, the longest winless run in Everton’s Premier League history, and an ever worsening standard of football – is, sadly, a resounding no. The feeling has been growing that, should there be any clarity on the ownership saga by the summer – be that the shaky underpinnings of a 777 Partners buyout or another, as yet unknown entity that might come out of the shadows once the club’s immediate footballing future is decided – the opportunity for a clean sweep that removes the current manager and his staff should be taken as part of a wider reset of the whole culture and ethos of the Club.
For now, though, the Toffees’ very survival may depend on Dyche’s ability to rally one more collective push from the players in four key matches that remain – against Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Luton Town, and Sheffield United – and Evertonians just have to hope that the one-trick pony’s one trick can work just a few more times and keep this grand old club in the Premier League.
The truth is, though, the players shouldn’t need him to pick them up. They shouldn’t need the gravel-voiced, motivational rabble-rousing or the barking from the sidelines. If what Dele Alli said on Monday Night Football is true about how much that defeat Stamford Bridge will have hurt the Everton players, then a sense of duty and professional pride should be enough to spur the kind of performance that we will need against Forest on Sunday.
Even more than that should be the knowledge and, sadly, the long-lost confidence that collectively – and certainly, in some cases, individually – these players are a lot better than performances over the past four months have suggested.
That almost mythical display at Brighton 10 months ago demonstrated the clinical attacking execution that this Everton team is capable of. The backs-to-the-wall, gutsy effort against the likes of Arsenal, Leeds and Bournemouth during last season’s successful battle against relegation showed the spirit and determination that the players are able to muster. The 30-pass move and goal against Newcastle earlier this season, coupled with the efficient dispatching of Chelsea in the same week, were another example of how good this side can be when it is firing on all cylinders and mentally in tune with each other.
Over the course of this miserable run of just one Premier League win in 15 matches, the team has had its belief, its fluidity and any attacking incisiveness, beaten out of them by a combination of poor results, and the increasingly one-dimensional coaching and instruction from the manager. They’ve lost all belief in their ability to effectively move the ball around the pitch on a consistent basis; and the defensive solidity that used to be Dyche’s trademark is gone.
It doesn’t mean they’ve become poor players but it shows they’ve completely lost their way – and, perhaps, their faith – under this manager and, if that’s the case, it might be time for them to take matters into their own hands a little and throw off the shackles. (This article was written before Michael Ball’s piece for the Liverpool Echo this week but he offers a similar sentiment.)
The message for Everton’s players in these absolutely vital upcoming home games should be go out and do it for the supporters who have sold out Goodison Park every fortnight or so with precious little to cheer or celebrate for years on end and packed out away ends up and down the country, rain or shine, distance and cost be damned.
Do it for the legacy of this famous old club and the preservation of the proudest top-flight record in English football – founder members of the Football and Premier Leagues, with more seasons in the top flight than any other. Do it so that all the tears, chaotic highs and perverse elation of the last two near-death scrapes with the drop don’t count for nothing.
Do it for yourselves, either to earn the move away that will advance your career away from this perennial shit show, or to make sure that your career and your own legacy are not tarnished by taking this historic and once-proud institution down to the Championship and, quite possibly, oblivion.
In his post-match interview in the Capital on Monday, James Tarkowski said during his mea culpa: “We can apologise and there have been dark days during my time at this football club but what these fans do is always turn up for the next game for us so hopefully they do that because we’re going to need them for these last six games.”
They will be there, starting on Sunday. From somewhere they will drag up the passion and the fight that was so lacking among the players on Monday night in what was one of the most embarrassing games in our Premier League history to make Goodison the bear pit it needs to be.
Because they know that this is a big one – the quintessential six-pointer against a direct rival in the fight to avoid relegation from the top flight. Victory means a four-point cushion between us and Forest and, depending on Luton’s result against Brentford 24 hours earlier, potentially a huge step towards safety.
To the players, the message, again, is clear: six games (four, realistically) to save the club. Get up and at them on Sunday and give everything for the badge. Goodison will respond, as you know. Learn the lessons from Monday but, like the humbling 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle almost a year ago, consign that awful performance at Chelsea to history. Regroup and go again.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, and UTFT!