New Everton manager Sean Dyche has laid out his immediate priorities to instil a strong work-ethic into his squad while reintroducing a “winning mentality” at the Club.
The highly-regarded boss built his reputation at Burnley where, in a tenure spanning nearly 10 years, he turned the Clarets into a robust and competitive side that regularly bloodied the noses of the Premier League's elite.
Speaking in his first interview since his appointment as Blues manager, Dyche revealed he wants to replicate many of those positive traits at Goodison Park, calling them “basic principles” of Everton Football Club.
He’s also disclosed his excitement at the challenge ahead and admitted he will be expecting his players to be ready to “work hard” from the very start of his reign.
“What I would say is we want to put out a team that works, that can fight and wear the badge with pride, beyond just the tactical and technical side,” Dyche told evertontv.
“Of course, they're massive parts of the game but - I've got to learn this - the feel of the fans here, they don't mind the ball being put at risk or playing forward.
“But they want people who are going to work and run. So, I've got to put that in.
“It's not that it's not there, but I've got to imprint my feeling and my style on it and that's part of what I do.
“Hopefully, with a bit of hard work from my staff and the players, we can reignite that passion of the fans because it's still there, you've seen it.”
With plenty of work to do this season in order to climb up the table and away from danger, Dyche detailed the importance of the role Evertonians can play in the team’s success, but also acknowledged the onus will be on him and his team to give them plenty to shout about.
“The relationship with the fans is very important, especially for me,” says Dyche. “I am under no illusions, I have to earn my right here as a manager, and many have done it.
“You don’t come into a club and get a free start. I have to show them what I am about, what I can deliver, but then you actually have to deliver it.
“That takes time. You have to get the team working in the way that I think is appropriate to win games. That’s the mentality I want to build here: a winning mentality.
“We have to fast track that, though. But I know I have to earn my right. I am going to work hard with my staff to make sure the team has that winning mentality.
“We have to build it, we have to work hard for it, and then that’s when the quality starts coming out.
“At the start, we have to get to that organised feel, build a gusto in the team and make it visual so the fans can link in very quickly.
He added: “We need to give something back to the fans, they are desperate for that, they want to cheer the team, they want to get behind them. But we have to give them something to grip hold of.”
With passion for the shirt and a hunger to deliver for Evertonians from his players, Dyche admits he will be versatile with his tactical approach in a bid to provide an effective winning style.
“I want us to be a team who gives the lot,” he added. “But it is not all built on that, I want us to play with a style, but an effective style.
“We want to be effective. We want to mix up play and ask questions of the opposition.
“We also want to add quality to that hard work, and there is some quality here, there are no two ways about it.
“I have come up against these players, and I know some of them personally - there is quality here.
“But we have to make them shine. That’s the job of me and the staff: allow them the freedom to shine while giving the organisation to be in a game to win it.”
