EVER READY
I’d have taken this last-day drama when I arrived says Dyche
FOR the third time in the Premier League era, it has come down to the final match to rescue a proud Everton record.
Only Arsenal have a longer tenure in the top flight, with the Toffees holding that lofty status since being promoted back into the old Division One in the cine-reel days of 1954.
The two previous dogfights in 1994 and 1998 have a place in Goodison history almost as memorable as some of their glittering trophy triumphs, with the first ‘great escape’ one of the most dramatic the old stadium has seen.
But the past cannot help now, so it means little to manager Sean Dyche.
He is a realist who knew what he was taking on when he joined the club, and he would have gladly taken this very scenario when he signed on the dotted line back in January.
A win over Bournemouth will ensure safety and Dyche said: “Yeah, I would have taken this when I came.
“It’s easy to forget, isn’t it? When I came here many people were saying we were already done.
“They were in the relegation zone, two points inside it. Now we are two points out of it.
“Four points doesn’t sound a lot but when you factor in all the injuries we have had and what has gone on, you would have taken it.”
Anything less than victory would hand Leicester or Leeds a potential lifeline.
Dyche knew that the squad he inherited was threadbare and that there was no time to add reinforcements – Everton were the only Premier League club not to make a January signing.
But he arrived with his eyes wide open. “It’s part of the game, isn’t it?” said the former Burnley head coach.
“There was no naivety in coming here. As soon as I saw the squad you could see there was an imbalance there straight away, and we were only an injury away from it becoming worse.”
Perhaps the biggest fear factor on this final weekend is a surprising one.
It is not injuries – Everton have had to cope with absenteeism almost weekly since Dyche arrived – and again he has former England international Dominic Calvert-Lewin missing in attack against Bournemouth.
Instead it is Everton’s home form, which was so important in keeping them in the Premier League last season but has now deserted them.
It seems the power of Goodison Park is working against them.
They have not won at home since early March, tasting defeat in the past three games on their own turf.
It all adds up to a record 10 league defeats at Goodison this term, the worst in club history and a forbidding omen.
But the 51-year-old Dyche has full trust in his squad. “Look, the players know more about the atmosphere here than I do, so I don’t have to educate them in terms of their own crowd,” he said.
“The home form is related to some of the massive challenges we’ve had in the games we’ve lost recently, with people not being fit.
“We trust the players absolutely because we have built an honesty within the group, and staff pulling in the right direction.”
And former Nottingham Forest youthteam player Dyche’s last words before the team goes into battle?
“Something simple is good when there’s lots riding on it,” he said.
“Cloughie used to say at Forest, ‘There is the ball, pass it to a red shirt’, though that was Brian Clough.”