Scouser Scott Phelan has been tasked with reviving the fortunes of Everton Women following Brian Sorensen's sacking
There is now a Scouse heartbeat leading Everton Women. And after leading a revival in the Women’s Super League, Scott Phelan doesn’t want an FA Cup exit to neighbours Liverpool to derail the progress made since he became interim head coach.
Following the sacking of Brian Sorensen, Liverpool-born Phelan, a former Everton trainee who captained the Under-18s and reserve sides before a senior playing career with Bradford City, Halifax Town, Kidderminster Harriers, Vauxhall Motors and Altrincham, took charge of the team for the remainder of the season on February 4.
The 37-year-old became the first boss to steer the Blues to back-to-back WSL wins as they triumphed 1-0 at London City Lionesses and then defeated West Ham United by the same scoreline in his inaugural match in charge at Goodison Park.
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There was bitter disappointment on Sunday as Everton exited the Women’s FA Cup with a 2-1 loss in St Helens, but with fellow Scouser Phil Jevons now having joined his staff, alongside Jennifer Foster and goalkeeping coach Ian McCaldon, Phelan is determined to continue the recovery.
The Blues brought in nine new signings for this season but flattered to deceive with poor results costing Sorensen, who joined from Fortuna Hjorring in 2022, his job.
Phelan said: “I don’t know if the team felt they should have been doing better because I’ve never asked them directly, but I’ve certainly told them directly that they should have been doing better because of the performances that I’ve seen day-to-day in training. There’s definitely talent.
“It could be easy to think right now that it isn’t the case but defeats or winning, we have to keep a level mind. There’s talent in that changing room and they’ve responded really well since I’ve entered the building and there’s no reason why that can’t keep moving forward.
“Thinking as a collective over the last two-and-a-half weeks or so, the players have responded really well. The defeat to Liverpool was disappointing, but far from the end of the world.
“There’s a group of players in there – not necessarily the players who have started – the players who have come off the bench have trained really well and prepared really well. I’ve stressed to the players that anything we do will have to be a collective effort.
“I think those who came off the bench against Liverpool had an impact on the game and that’s a positive going forward as it’s hard to be successful with just 11 good players. We want more than that.
“Just because we lost the Women’s FA Cup tie, it doesn’t mean that all the good work of the previous three weeks is undone.”
An international break ensures that Everton don’t return to action until they go to Tottenham Hotspur on March 15 when Phelan goes head-to-head in the dugout with fellow Liverpudlian Martin Ho. But despite some of the team’s Japanese contingent heading out to Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup – they face Chinese Taipei, India and Vietnam in their group matches in Perth – back on Merseyside the work continues.
Phelan said: “The plans are to find a nice balance between rest and training for the group that is remaining at Finch Farm. It suppose the plan for the international players is to go and represent themselves and our club to the best of their ability and enjoy the experiences that will come their way.
“We plan to train, we plan to keep working and improve. It’s not always easy when you’ve got a chunk of the group away, but it doesn’t mean we can’t get some purposeful work in which will hopefully help us by the time the next game arrives.
“The collective togetherness needs to be something that helps us in good and bad moments. We’ve definitely shown that so far since I’ve been with them but maybe it’s something we can push even more for.”
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