Sean Dyche has long had to deal with, and sometimes answer to, the wider issues at Everton
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Sean Dyche speaks to the media during an Everton press conference this season
Sean Dyche speaks to the media during an Everton press conference this season
(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC)
Sean Dyche believes the biggest boost to his role provided by Everton's takeover will be the ability to concentrate purely on football. The Blues boss said his first conversation with new owners The Friedkin Group (TFG) had been positive, reporting new club executive chairman Marc Watts had offered him support, and there appeared to be an acknowledgement that he had steered the club through a challenging period.
But Dyche, out of contract in the summer, is keenly aware his position will be the subject of scrutiny and speculation as he attempts to guide the team through another tough campaign.
Speaking after his meeting with Watts, he re-iterated his understanding that managers are judged on their results and that the coming weeks and months will be no different.
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What he does expect to change, however, is the instability around Everton he has had to deal with, and often answer for, throughout his near two year tenure on Merseyside.
Asked whether the takeover offered a boost to his work, Dyche said: “I think what it does is, I know this sounds very simplistic, but do you think how many times in here I've had to answer to the business side of the club? Now, I don't mean that the questions are going to stop, like, literally.
“But it would be nice to just get back to talking about what, in theory, I was brought here to do, which is obviously work with the team and win games. So that will change.”
Dyche has been the most accessible figure at the club amid the turbulence that he has worked through, including the uncertainty at the top of the Blues while former owner Farhad Moshiri sought an exit route he finally secured on Thursday.
He said that had taken a toll: “Many times I've had to come in here and be fielding and batting off questions that are awkward and I'm having to answer them, and that's fine, I've got no problem with that. But it's quite time consuming, and it's quite absorbing for me because I have to do my own work, make sure I'm on point, make sure I'm saying the right thing, make sure I'm delivering the right message.
“And it has been a constant… Therefore, seriously, [the takeover] means I can come in here and concentrate and focus on football, the team, working with the staff. It still doesn't guarantee results, but it guarantees that I can free myself up to do that and not be coming in here thinking, right, I've got this to deal with, that to deal with, I've got to answer that, I've got to answer this, and all that sort of stuff.”
Dyche would like to earn a new contract at Everton and therefore be the manager who leads the club out at the new waterfront stadium. While he said the Friedkins appeared to have an understanding of the challenges he had faced and his work to overcome them, he was clear that his fate will be decided on the pitch.
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Dyche said: “It doesn't solve everything [but] you've got to win games. Whilst you're winning games, hopefully, you continue to build a relationship. And then that's when they go, right, you're our guy or you're not our guy. But it always, really, becomes about winning games.”