TRUE ‘I’m proud to manage this club. I was in the right place at right time and think I fit here’
SEAN DYCHE heads into a crunch Merseyside derby at Anfield claiming he is the perfect fit for an Everton team in trouble.
And the 51-year-old Goodison boss admits he would never have landed the job if the club had been in the top six and former boss Frank Lampard had been head-hunted by a leading foreign team.
Dyche was sacked by Burnley last April, with the Clarets heading for Premier League relegation in his
10th season in charge.
Many believed his star had waned and he had missed out on a managerial upgrade by staying too long at Turf Moor.
But, despite being out of the game for nine months,
Dyche always believed in his credentials.
And he was never tempted to panic and take a job outside the top flight.
“No, never. I think I afforded myself a window after so many seasons in the Premier League” reflected Dyche.
“There are 20 Premier League clubs and as a British manager you’ve probably got the chance with, say, 12.
“The top six or eight, they might say ‘no you won’t get that’ for whatever reason. Then you look at the ownerships of those clubs, whether they’re foreign or English influences and you start narrowing it down.
“Everton have thought that I’m right for this moment in its history to manage it and I’m proud to do so.
“On another day
they might not feel that. Would I have got the chance if they were sixth and Frank Lampard went abroad or wherever to manage? Possibly not.
“You’ve got to add all that into the melting pot. So that’s why I’d have given myself time to make the right choice.
“It’s not like there are 100 Premier League jobs. You have to be patient sometimes and be in the right place at the right time.
“I certainly think I fit here, that’s for sure, but a lot of other people thought I would fit here this time. Maybe a few years ago they might not have done.” Dyche gave Everton the famed new manager “bounce effect” with victory over leaders Arsenal in his first match in charge.
His stars ran long and hard against Mikel Arteta’s high-flyers – but he’s warned they must deliver the same tomorrow night against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in another eyecatching fixture.
“I’ve always been a great believer in how the team performs as a start point,” Dyche said.
“To win was the icing on the cake. But the performance was what I really wanted to see after such a short window working with them. Getting the win reinforces all that you and the staff think is right and proper to demand and then you go into the next one.
“Beating anyone in the division is hard enough but when you beat the big guns, especially Arsenal with the season they’re having, then it just locks in the belief in the work you’re doing.
“It’s a derby, it’s another big game and Liverpool still have good players. So our players are definitely not looking at it being naive. They’re thinking ‘we have to perform again’.
“I didn’t go singing from the rooftops after beating Arsenal. I said ‘it’s another start point, lads’.
“We have to keep building that mentality and any win does strengthen it, but particularly when you beat the big guns because it reinforces all the good work they’re doing against some of the best.”
Dyche has also saluted 34-year-old captain Seamus Coleman, and reckons he’s the ideal leader to help steer Everton out of the drop zone.
“He’s been terrific,” Dyche said. “He has a good and healthy demand of those around him and a good way of using his voice and experience.
“I’m not bothered about age. He set the tone against Arsenal by being sharp and getting tackles in early. I can see why he’s a legend here.”
‘It’s a derby, big
game and Liverpool have good players’