Lampard was RIGHT to call us all out
IWOBI BACKS BOSS AFTER CUP THRASHING OUTBURST
ALEX IWOBI has admitted Frank Lampard was right to question whether his Everton players have got the “b ***** ks” for a relegation fight – and that it is up to them to show they do.
Lampard turned on his team when they were hammered 4-0 by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup after winning just two of his first seven Premier League games at the helm.
He faces the club that launched him on a stellar playing career with his Toffees fully entangled in a relegation scrap.
And ahead of the clash at the London Stadium, midfielder Iwobi revealed the mood in the dressing room is stark.
Iwobi (right) said: “It comes from within us. We know that sometimes we don’t give the fight that we’re capable of giving.
“If we fight, we are capable of competing with anyone in the league. It’s not just the manager saying it – the players agree with his statement.
“It starts in training. If we’re all trying to fight and be the best that we can in training then it transforms into matches.
“But even before Frank came we were saying we had to show more character.”
Iwobi lived in Plaistow after moving to east London with his family from Nigeria at the age of four and could have signed for West Ham before joining Arsenal.
He moved to Goodison Park for £28million in the summer of 2019 but it has been a struggle for the 25-yearold. Everton have parted company with Marco Silva, Carlo Ancelotti (above) and Rafa Benitez in his time at the club.
And with Duncan
EVERTON
Ferguson having two spells as caretaker boss, it means he has now been managed by five different bosses.
Iwobi added: “It is difficult but we’re professional players and we should have the mentality to cope.
“The one thing Seamus Coleman is always telling us is that we’ve got to keep on fighting and giving 100 percent.
“Whenever we’ve done that, it doesn’t matter which manager we fight under, we’ve normally been able to get results.
“We’ve got to keep giving 100 percent
– especially under Frank, who has been in the game himself – and we’ll be able to get results.
“As players, we know it isn’t down to the manager or the fans. It’s down to us at the end of the day.”
A red card in the Africa Cup of Nations meant Iwobi missed the draw with Ghana that sent Nigeria tumbling out of the World Cup on away goals in midweek – and sparked a riot amongst the fans.
But his last Premier League outing saw him score only his seventh goal for Everton in the priceless 2-1 victory over Newcastle to spark scenes of pure joy inside Goodison.
Iwobi said: “It was crazy, the scenes were amazing.
“I wish I could describe it but in the moment it was one of those feelings you wish never disappears.
“The main thing for us is we want to have that atmosphere all of the time, so we need to keep working to make sure there are many more feelings like that.
“But it’s now in the past. We have to focus on what is ahead of us at the moment.”
EVERY couple of weeks a Newcastle United player stands up in front of team-mates and staff and tells them his life story.
“It’s personal stuff that players maybe didn’t know,” explained winger Ryan Fraser.
Why has this ritual, done during the fortnightly player fines meeting, become a small but important cog in Eddie Howe’s cultural reboot of Newcastle United?
“You respect each other more when you know certain things you didn’t before,” the Scotland international said.
“It means you go out and fight for each other.”
Newcastle may have spent £94million on five new players in January to help avoid relegation, which has fired up their recent revival.
But, five months into the job, Howe has been quietly working behind the scenes to get “buy-in” to a fresh club attitude that is as valuable as any bigmoney transfer spend.
“Respect is a huge word,” explained Howe. “Between the staff and players, and between players.
“Knowing we are all there for the same purpose. Everything we do is to create a better working environment, and respect.
“Players may be earning millions of pounds and be big names, but everyone is important. Every staff member, or player.”
Howe has moulded a failing squad who did not win a league game until December 4 – and only one until January 22 – into an outfit who then took six wins in seven games before losing their last two.
It all started on Howe’s first day, when players and staff filled in forms, detailing aspects of their lives.
Names of their partners, kids, birthdays, outside interests.
“Now they know everyone by name from top to bottom, and who they are. They take time to speak to you. It is in a different class,” said one employee.
It sounds very much like the “no d***heads” policy the New Zealand All Blacks have ingrained – although Howe does not use the term himself.
But it is peoplecentred. Of the life-story talks from players, Howe said: “It is healthy and can start relationships and conversations that normally wouldn’t happen. We have had some interesting talks.
“We’ve done a mixture of things. The culture of any organisation will determine its success. It is about how
Dier, Davies, Lloris, Romero,
Hojbjerg, Doherty, Bentancur,
Son, Kane Reguilon, Kulusevski,
Schar, Dubravka, Manquillo,
Willock, Burn, Targett,
Fraser, Shelvey, Joelinton,
Murphy, Wood
Martin Atkinson people interact with each other. You can stimulate that. Get people talking and mixing.”
So, no d***heads?
“Absolutely right,” said Howe. “It comes back to the respect word.
“Respect the player in the team, the player who isn’t in, and wait for your opportunity. It’s how you behave day to day.
“We have some great professionals here and some great people, and if you have great people you have a chance of making a great team.”
It has been illustrated by the now traditional dressing room pictures taken after victories, including first XI, subs, physios and kit men, everyone involved, perhaps 50 staff.
“That’s something I started at Bournemouth. You have to enjoy the high points together too,” said Howe.
On the pitch, he has updated his training sessions and tactical plans from his Bournemouth days and got them into digital format.
Players walk into work and find clear concise notices on the day’s training and the aims.
Physically they all maxed-out in Dubai, cycling in an altitude chamber.
Howe said: “It was interesting to see their characters under that stress.
“As you get older and your playing days get further away you forget how players think.
“You must never lose that, but try to understand their emotions that go into training, playing, winning and losing.
“With experience you get better at handling it.
“I don’t want to get too far away from a player’s mentality. I try to use my experience to intervene when I see a problem.”