I didn’t like Sean Dyche at first but he was the making of me.. he’ll sort out the mess at Everton, says Troy Deeney
THERE was only ever one man who could save Everton from their prolonged crisis and I’m convinced that man is Sean Dyche.
Now the former Burnley boss is heading for Goodison Park, I’d put my house on the Toffees avoiding relegation.
GettyTroy Deeney (right) is convinced Sean Dyche (left) is the man to save crisis-club Everton[/caption]
Now I’m biased when it comes to Dyche but I also have some insight about him, which I hope will cut through the snobbery which seems to go against him.
He is pigeon-holed as a long-ball merchant and that might make him unpopular with a large section of Everton’s restless fanbase.
Many of them would doubtless have preferred Marcelo Bielsa.
But the former Leeds chief tends to be an 18-month sort of manager and I couldn’t see his extreme methods working in mid-season.
Everton need a boss for the long term and have found one.
Dyche is flexible with his tactics and outstanding in his man management.
Sure, his Burnley side were quite direct but they had one of the smallest budgets in the Premier League and they thrived under his management for years.
Believe it or not, Everton do have better players than Dyche’s Burnley ever did.
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It is just that the club has lacked identity, direction and leadership for so long that many players have regressed there.
Dyche won’t have Everton playing one-dimensional route-one football.
Dyche was my assistant manager, and then my manager, when I was at Watford.
I was a young idiot and Dyche told me as much. He was right and I needed it.
When he was No 2 to Malky Mackay I didn’t like him and I didn’t think he liked me.
So when he took over, I assumed I’d be out. Instead, he was the making of me.
He told me home truths because he rated me and believed in me — he could see something there when a lot of people couldn’t.
The season I spent under him was my breakthrough campaign, as I played regularly as a striker and scored 11 Championship goals.
PADyche will take over from sacked England legend Frank Lampard[/caption]
That following summer, I spent three months in prison, the lowest point of my life.
But while I was inside, Dyche visited me and wrote to me.
Watford were taken over by the Pozzo family that summer and Dyche lost his job.
But he continued to ring me and message me regularly as my career progressed, telling me I deserved my successes.
So, yes, I owe him a huge debt of gratitude but it is not just for the influence he had on my career which makes me believe Dyche is the right man for Everton — it’s his all-round managerial abilities.
He will get the team fit and focused, he will give them a clear identity and he will connect with the fanbase.
The club is horribly divided and Dyche will unite it.
Footballers are like schoolkids. They need to be told what to do, they need direction and clarity.
PADyche is a flexible manager who is firm in his beliefs[/caption]
Fill their heads with too many weird and wonderful ideas and you risk losing them.
Dyche gets that. He can be flexible but he is also clear and firm in his beliefs.
His No 2 Ian Woan is an absolute top man as well.
Everton need Dyche, as a squad and as a club, because they have been a mess for too long.
For instance, I couldn’t understand why they were after Arnaut Danjuma.
He’s a great talent — which is why Spurs ended up hijacking his move from Villarreal — but another flair player on the wing is not what Everton need.
They need a back-up to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, a player I’m convinced Dyche will work wonders for, and they need someone to anchor the midfield.
Everton have a vast number of midfielders but no one who seems able to control things, to do the simple things well.
Dyche can work wonders for out-of-form star Dominic Calvert-LewinRex
So many good players have gone there over the last seven years and seem to have shrunk.
There are a lot of players there on good contracts who the club want to get rid of.
You can’t blame the players for that — it was the club who offered them big money — but that is not a healthy situation.
The majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, has invested vast amounts in the squad and gone backwards.
I’m not surprised he wants to sell up. But building a successful football club is not all about throwing money at it.
It’s about having that long-term vision, which is what Dyche will bring.
Everton were in severe danger of being relegated, of being out of the top flight for the first time in almost 70 years.
Some say they need relegation to refresh and reset the club but I’m not having that. The Championship is tough, believe me, and there is no guarantee that Everton would come straight back up.
They could have ended up in the wilderness for a generation like Leeds did if they hadn’t got this appointment right.
I’m convinced they have made the right call for a change. With Dyche, Everton should be as safe as houses.
