Dyche previews Everton's trip to Villa and distances himself from potential owner John Textor's comments
12/09/2024
Finch Farm training ground, Liverpool, UK
12/09/2024
Finch Farm training ground, Liverpool, UK
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00:00I don't go for trolling, though.
00:17Why are you laughing at me?
00:21Good afternoon, everyone, welcome to our pre-match press conference.
00:24To preview our game against Aston Villa, we'll start off with...
00:27Shaun, obviously the club has released a statement saying it's aware of the comments made by Dream Textile
00:32in relation to a potential purchase of the club. How aware are you of those comments
00:36and what confidence do you have now that finally you'll get a resolution to the ownership situation?
00:42Well, I don't know about the resolution, obviously that's for upstairs at the club,
00:47the bigger picture, the financial side of the club.
00:50Regarding the comments, if you're a respective owner and you are going to comment,
00:54you're probably going to ask certain questions, and that's the way it goes,
00:57finding out about what you're prospectively going to buy or getting a feel or giving a feel,
01:01as the case may be.
01:03You also spoke about the respect he has for what you've achieved in your management career,
01:07but he also said that he wants to sit down with you and ask, do you like Botafogo forwards,
01:11Jesus or Enrique, do you have an ambition to coach that sort of profile,
01:15do you have a system that would work for a squad that is optimised from the best players in the world?
01:21When, if you know, are you likely to speak to Jon Texter,
01:24and if he gets the opportunity to ask you those questions, what would your response be?
01:27Well, I haven't had the chance, I don't think the deal is to that position,
01:31and I think it's one of them, like I say, if you're a respective owner of a club,
01:35you probably would want to build a relationship or certainly know the manager's thoughts in any situation,
01:40so I don't think that's necessarily about me and Everton Football Club,
01:43I think it's about any ownership taking over or trying to take over a club,
01:46in due course, of course, you know, he isn't the current owner, obviously,
01:49but if he did take over, then I'm sure you'd have that conversation,
01:52but I think that's standard practice, I don't think that's relevant to me.
01:55What about your response to those questions?
01:57Well, I mean, you know, I'd like to think over my years as a manager,
02:01I've dealt with many situations and many different players and many different playing styles,
02:05so that's just part of being a Premier League manager, you know,
02:08and I've done that for a number of years now,
02:10so, you know, I think the variances are what you've got and what players you've got
02:14and the best you can use them and I think, you know,
02:16I've tried to adapt to whatever challenge I've had with the group of players that I've been given.
02:19Obviously, you're in the final year of your contract at the club as well,
02:22does that create uncertainty for you or is there something in the offing that you know of?
02:26No, I don't think there's any uncertainty, I made it clear,
02:29I was asked that a month or so ago and, you know, I made it clear then
02:31that the bigger picture of the club is the main focus, you know,
02:34and it's still, you know, nowhere near the club wants to be, where it wants to be, sorry,
02:38you know, we've done loads of work, myself, Kev certainly included,
02:41on the playing side of things with bringing in a lot of money in transfers
02:44and balancing out the contractual side of the club and brought a lot of money in that way.
02:47So, excuse me, that was certainly the focus when I came here,
02:51I was under no illusion about the challenge, although it's been a much bigger
02:54and much deeper challenge than what I knew when I first came here
02:57and my situation is secondary to the situation the club are in, you know,
03:01we want to win games, that's my first thought amongst anything,
03:04it's not about myself, it's not about the contract or anything like that,
03:07it's about the staff, the players all aligning to win games,
03:10you know, that's part of it, not simple to do, but simple in its thought,
03:14so that still remains my focus.
03:16Is the ambition to still be here beyond this?
03:19The ambition here changes weekly, you know, with different stories,
03:23different bits, you know, the club, it's going to be sold, it's not going to be sold,
03:26you're here, you're not here, I've heard it all since I've been here
03:29and I've only been here 20 months, so it's been an up and down period,
03:32that's for sure, but that's for the club, not just for me
03:35and I think it's still there, we brought some kind of levels of calmness
03:38during the process, but at the minute it's a volatile situation,
03:41on and off the pitch with talk of ownership change etc.
03:44and on the pitch not getting the results that we want to get,
03:47but football very rarely surprises me, it did against Bournemouth
03:50for seven minutes, it did surprise me, that was a surprise,
03:53but very rarely does football surprise me now.
03:55And that's where we will talk about football, what regroupings have you done
03:58after that, because we've spoken about it before, 80 odd minutes,
04:01the performance was right up there.
04:04Yeah, I mean, we're all disappointed with that, you know,
04:06and inevitably it's my responsibility, the players I'd like to think
04:09over 20 months here have learnt to deal with those situations,
04:12we obviously didn't on the day, we didn't do the things that were necessary
04:16to see the game through and we've got to continually learn from that,
04:19you know, the game's never over, hence why I've been asked many times,
04:22you know, about me not celebrating goals, that's why, the game's never done,
04:26that's why I don't run up and down the pitch, because I've always thought
04:29until the game's finished, then you have a quiet celebration in my case,
04:33but, you know, that's why I don't run on the pitch and run up and down the pitch
04:36and all that sort of stuff and dive in with the fans, because you never know
04:38how it's going to change and against Bournemouth it was a great example
04:41of that, when the game should be dead, we all know that, very strong performance
04:46for 87-ish minutes and then we all saw what went on next,
04:50saw those that were there and, you know, that was a really hard one to take,
04:54but it does happen from time to time, unfortunately not very often,
04:57but it did happen, so how we deal with that, how we speak to the players about it
05:01and more reminders, I mean, we've got a group of players who are certainly,
05:04not all, but most of them, you know, they're mature enough to know at that stage
05:08of the game how to see it through and we just didn't do that.
05:10Finally for me then, has there been a case of a team meeting just to pull everything together again?
05:14No, most go away, you see, most disappear straight away,
05:17I mean, it's always one I will share that, you know, a lot of people say,
05:20you know, he's got this time to work with all the players, you haven't,
05:22they all go somewhere, so I've always marvelled at that comment,
05:25it always surprised me, you know, people who have been in the game for a long time
05:27saying, yeah, got to use this time to work with all the players, they're not here,
05:30so they've just come back today, so you don't get that much time.
05:37A couple of players came in, Sean, when would you hope to see Armando Breuer
05:43and is Mangala ready?
05:46Yeah, Armando's going to be a bit of time, you know, I think everyone's aware of that situation,
05:51he's got an injury and that's going to take a bit of time,
05:54Aurel is, well, we know from obviously his time at Forest,
05:57we know he can deal with the Premier League, we know he's an international footballer,
06:01he's just spent his first bit of time, so he literally signed and then went away,
06:04so, you know, that's one of them things, but he's coming today, bright and breezy,
06:07and wants to be part of the group and we'll assess it as we go on.
06:10In terms of injuries as well, Seamus seems to get injured playing for the Republic,
06:15and how are Brantway and Paterson?
06:18Yeah, so Seamus is touch and go for the weekend, unfortunately,
06:21but we'll see how he goes, see how he recovers from that tomorrow more so,
06:26Jarrad is just really on the grass now, so he's at the very beginning of the process,
06:31and Paterson's the same, you know, they've done a lot of work with the sports science team,
06:34by the way, but what I mean is they're starting to train with us every day,
06:37so they need a training period, a game period to be classed as fully fit.
06:42It's probably a big weekend at midfield at Villa for Tim and for Onana against their clubs,
06:48I just wonder what you'd say about their qualities, have they got similarities or are they very different players?
06:53No, I think they're different players, I think Amadou is obviously slightly deeper in his recognition of the Premier League
06:59and his understanding of the Premier League, and I hope he learnt from here and continues to learn,
07:04because he's still relatively young in age and in experience, but he's a very good player
07:09and we sold him and made good money for the club, so that was a business transaction as much as anything,
07:12we all know the business side of the club has changed considerably, so that had to be factored in,
07:16and Tim's come the other way, sort of one under the radar really, and has done well pre-season,
07:22he's still learning, he's still got the nuts and bolts to improve upon, which we spoke to him about,
07:26and he understands that, but generally he's done well.
07:34While we're speaking about Tim, he has said this week about how you coach and not specific instructions,
07:40I think he said, just to go out there and work hard, I know other managers do that as well,
07:44I just wondered if you wanted to explain how you do coach?
07:48He's been given a little bit more than that, it's not just about hard work,
07:52but I think part of his learning is the Premier League hard work that's needed,
07:56the hard yards, the out-of-possession work that's needed, I think we've referenced that,
08:01we've gone through that with the coaching staff as well, not just myself, on videos and clips,
08:05and kind of thoughts on it, but a lot of, certainly for someone like Tim, in their infancy of being at a club,
08:11is to let them go, I spoke quite a lot about Jared last year, sometimes you can out-coach it from them,
08:17and Jared I left him alone a lot of last year, and I was a centre-half and normally do quite a lot of work with the centre-halves,
08:22but he was going along well and I thought, no, no, he's fine, just leave him, sometimes as I said,
08:25you can get so busy coaching, this is something I've learnt from a long time doing it,
08:30and maybe when I was a younger coach I'd be straight in working with the player,
08:34you know, you should do this, you should do that, and sometimes you can let them naturally develop,
08:38I think Tim's had a decent pre-season, we've kept it simple with him,
08:41and now we know a bit more about him, we've had a few games in the Premier League with him,
08:45and now we're just beginning to say, right, OK, these are the details, these are the nuts and bolts, as I call them,
08:49you know, not just the in-possession bit, what's happening outside of the game when you're not in-possession,
08:53you know, what are you doing and what's your movement patterns, passing lanes, getting back into key areas,
08:58defending, attacking, all of them things, so that's a gradual process,
09:02because he's still relatively young in his years and certainly in his Premier League experience.
09:07There were questions about your substitutes against Bournemouth, but I had a look,
09:12sort of people saying it was left late, but I had a look at the other league games,
09:1563 minutes against Brighton, 57 you subbed against Spurs, and 83 against Bournemouth,
09:20so I just wanted to explain, do you plan for substitutes, how do you work your substitutions?
09:25No, we monitor in the game, you know, with the subs that I made,
09:29and Ilya put a tremendous shift in and he hasn't played that much football,
09:32he played in the week, he was cramping up, and can you keep seeing the jank going through?
09:38Don we've been careful with for a long time, you know, using him as many minutes as we can,
09:41but still monitoring to make sure that he doesn't get injured again,
09:44because we know his injury history, although he's had a really strong pre-season this year.
09:48But the things with substitutions, I think, you know, there was a lot of comments to me about substitution,
09:53I think I'm in good company, I think Pep Guardiola makes less than me,
09:56but you know, he does alright, so I'm not remotely putting myself in his category by the way,
10:01before people write that story, because they do, I'm just suggesting,
10:05if he feels that he doesn't have to make a substitution, I often do myself,
10:08you know, I think the team's out there for a reason.
10:10On this occasion it was more of a fatigue issue, and being careful,
10:14but you can't, I don't personally, I don't personally put that down to why we lost against Bournemouth,
10:19personally, because I've watched it back about 47 times, and I can assure you it's not to do with that.
10:24But, of course people remark on that, that's the way it goes, opinions are always about substitution,
10:29when they work, hero, when they don't, zero, that's the business we're in.
10:33What are you expecting from Aston Villa this weekend?
10:36Obviously, you know, they've got lots of different commitments,
10:38not just Premier League, they've got European football as well,
10:40do you think that might impact on their season?
10:43Well, they've done very well, you know, with the coaching they have there,
10:46and the manager, I think he's done a tremendous job there,
10:49they've invested well yet again, investment's not easy,
10:52you have to choose the right players that can enhance what you do,
10:55and they're a good outfit, and they're learning I think,
10:58you know, I'm not in their camp, but the more games that come round,
11:02you know, if you notice a lot of the clubs, they learn how to deal with that,
11:04learn how to manage it, so we can't rely on any of that,
11:06you know, we've got to rely on us performing, and giving a good enough performance to win,
11:10because they're a very strong outfit, we know that,
11:12and they've signed very good players, and players who have been there have developed and got stronger.
11:17Just a general question for you here, obviously, you know,
11:19this press conference was pushed back as statements come out,
11:22we've spoken, you've spoken in here before about headlines around Everton,
11:27I know, you know, you say you're quite good at blocking out the noise,
11:30and I think you've shown that, but does it test your resolve sometimes,
11:34you know, we're talking about a potential owner, which we've done that before,
11:38and then takeovers haven't happened, does it start testing your resolve?
11:41Whether it does or it doesn't, it's what's going on,
11:44excuse me, and it's been like that ever since I walked in the door,
11:47you know, I've never known a calm period here,
11:49maybe we've got a few days where we beat Liverpool,
11:51that was quite calm for different reasons, as you can imagine, yeah,
11:54well, calm in a way, not calm, but calm in a happy way,
11:58you know, it's hard, it's a hard football club to find calmness,
12:01from before I walked in here, to be honest,
12:03and it's been like that ever since,
12:05and when you're cutting and trimming and cutting and trimming
12:07and trying to develop a team to win whilst you're cutting and trimming,
12:10it's a hard challenge, you know,
12:12and trying to, you know, offer answers to questions
12:14that have been here for a long time is difficult,
12:17so is it testing? Kind of, but is it just the reality?
12:20Ideally, in reality, it's the best I can,
12:22and sometimes it's non-reality you have to deal with, of course,
12:25but that's the way it goes, that's the industry we're in,
12:27so I've kind of, it's not whether I like it, dislike it,
12:30it's not whether it tests me or not, it's there right in front of me,
12:32and that's my job and my responsibility,
12:34so I just work as hard as I can and deal with it the best I can.
12:36Thanks, Julian.
12:38Any further questions in the open section before we move on?
12:51Hi, Sean, I just wanted to ask you a bit of a strange question,
12:54but it's a trend that's been going around.
12:57No.
12:58No, this is away from, I guess, all of that,
13:00but it's the trend that's gone around this week around Barclays men,
13:02I don't know if you've seen it.
13:03I haven't.
13:04No, it's about players who fans love from the era between 2001 and 2016
13:08when the Premier League was sponsored by the Barclays.
13:10OK.
13:11An example like...
13:12Is Woney on it?
13:13Oh, no, he'd have been out of it by then.
13:15Players like JJ Ococcia and Michu, you know, fan favourites like that,
13:18and then you had someone like Danny Ings when you were at Burnley.
13:20Is there any players that stand out from that era from you?
13:22And I just wanted to ask, what's the difference from that era
13:25to what we see now, do you think?
13:27You'd have to name some players from that era.
13:29Off the top of my head, I can't pick out one in that era,
13:32although there was many, I'm sure.
13:34JJ Ococcia?
13:35Well, he was a fine player.
13:36I think he was one of the Sams he kind of found from sort of not nowhere
13:40and helped him shine him up and got him to a player,
13:43or helped him become a player in this country, he was.
13:46Yeah, a strange kind of question.
13:49Yeah, I don't know.
13:50What was the second part of the question?
13:52Just sort of, how do you think that era is different to what we see now?
13:55I think it's just football develops usually in the ways of the minutiae and the detail.
14:01The sports science, the prep, the game prep, the organisation,
14:05the tactical side of things, it just keeps edging forwards.
14:09It's not radical shifts all the time, it just shifts slightly.
14:12Stats slightly change.
14:14Distance covered doesn't change as much as people think,
14:16but high-intensity changes and high-speed running changes
14:19and skin folds of players, the way they look,
14:22the way they take care of themselves.
14:23Off the pitch has obviously radically changed,
14:25certainly from 2001 with social media and what they have to deal with,
14:28the stresses, the strains, the anxieties that come with all of that.
14:31So that's changed off the pitch.
14:33On the pitch, it doesn't change as much as you think.
14:35It's not radical shifts, it's usually details and technical details,
14:39tactical details, that kind of thing, and the physicality.
14:41It just changes and it shifts slightly.
14:43Do you think people are just being nostalgic or was it a more fun era?
14:46I don't know, every era looks back.
14:50We all look back and think it was more fun or, in my case, more real,
14:53more authentic maybe, so you're allowed to tackle,
14:55you're allowed to head the ball, you're allowed to play at pace.
14:59I don't know, there was more of a feel maybe,
15:03and more maybe of a feel between fans and players
15:06because there was less of them social barriers and social media barriers.
15:09It was just kind of a bit more connected.
15:11That's a gut feeling, certainly from the very early stages.
15:14Not so much, obviously, I think you referenced 2016.
15:17Not so much then, but from 2001,
15:19that beginning kind of twist and turn in it all,
15:22then I think that's probably changed.
15:24But no, not so much the 2016 at that end of the market.
15:27That was pretty similar, I would suggest.
15:29Thanks, George. OK, thank you, guys.