Everton manager Sean Dyche is fully aware of what is at stake for Goodison Park players and staff. Photo: Getty Images/Tony McArdle
Sean Dyche doesn't sugarcoat what's at stake for Everton in the next four games. “Life and livelihood,” he said.
It's a grim, uncertain reality as he leads his Everton team to European runners-up at Brighton and faces the daunting prospect of a Manchester City visit at Goodison Park. week.
If the worst happens and Everton are defeated, the focus will be on the future of the players. Relegation has far-reaching implications beyond the looks of Premier League footballers who are wondering if the club has the finances to continue paying them league wages. Having gone through this experience at Burnley, Dyche understands the human impact.
“The next four games will affect not only the future of people, but also their lives and livelihoods,” he said. “This is football. It's a challenge. It's right before your eyes. Such is the reality. Our task is to create a new reality, but it is the current one.
“The negativity around the club has been around for a long time”
Dyche has played a dual role since replacing Frank Lampard in January. His immediate priority was results, and he promised to lay the groundwork for the team to move forward no matter what division they were in. confident that he will be trusted to lead the recovery even if his primary task of survival fails.
“The work I got here is well documented. Noise and negativity around the club for a long time. You can't change things overnight,” Dyche said.
“The key moments of the minute are in the games. Things around that in the departments, the different topics we want to work with and the alignment still needs to be done. Otherwise, you just put a band-aid on something, thinking that everything is already done, and then you realize that it is not. There is a lot to do and a lot going on behind the results, but the results are still the key at the moment.
“We need to finish the job, wait for the summer, and then start all the big things. But the main thing at the moment is the games, and the attention is focused on them. There are things going on around the next step and the next step after that. Then the attention goes back to the games.”
“We don't want to 'just survive' – we want to grow”
Dyche is certainly under the impression that he and director of football Kevin Thelwell are at the beginning of a long-term relationship, even if Everton are relegated. Given how precariously the club is run by majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, it remains to be seen if he sees it this way.
“The facts are that there are certain core values about how a club should operate and it’s not about for the department in which you work. It has to work this way,” Dyche said. “It's my opinion. This is what I hope to build over time.
“We need to win enough games soon. The overall picture should shape the entire club so that it moves in the right direction. It can't just be, “Oh, we haven't slept again.” It doesn't build anything. It's just survival. We don't want to “just survive”. We want to grow. It's a different game.”
Whoever is given the responsibility of resurrecting the team, there's bound to be a mass exodus if Everton are relegated just because they can't afford to pay Premier League salaries in championship, and already have a charge for overspending against them. The English Football League will be keeping a close eye on Moshiri's scores should Everton become one of their clubs, so a sell-off is inevitable. Highly rated assets like Jordan Pickford will have to make a decision if acceptable offers materialize.
Dyche seems to be looking to the future and the inevitable hard decisions on his desk. “Life goes on no matter one way or another,” he said. “The layout of the football club is the background. It's a big project from what I've learned since I've been here.”
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