LONDON (AFP) – Sean Dyche vowed on Monday to “remodel” Everton after the Premier League strugglers hired the former Burnley boss to save them from relegation.
Dyche agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract and will face Premier League leaders Arsenal at Goodison Park in his first match in charge on Saturday.
The 51-year-old said it was an “honour” to take over the Merseyside club, who have not won any silverware since 1995 and sacked Dyche’s predecessor Frank Lampard after just less than a year in charge.
Dyche arrives at Goodison well aware that Everton’s morale is at rock bottom in the midst of their struggle to avoid playing outside the top-flight for the first time since 1954.
“There’s a big challenge ahead but one I’m ready for and want to take on. I’m looking forward to hopefully playing my part and realigning things,” Dyche told Everton’s website.
“We want to change the shape of this club going forward, remodel it in our style, but remodel it in a way we can win.”
Hinting that Everton have lacked fight this season, Dyche said: “We want to put out a team that works, that can fight and wear the badge with pride, beyond the tactical and technical.
“I’m not questioning any manager who has been here before, I’ve got to imprint my feeling and my style on it and that’s part of what I do.
“But it starts with hard graft, literally the hard yards. We have to fast-track it. We want truth and honesty and they will certainly get that from me.”
Everton chairman Bill Kenwright added: “He quickly convinced me that he has exactly the right attributes to make himself a great Everton manager – and a man who could inspire our fanbase.”
Lampard was dismissed last week after a run of nine defeats in 12 Premier League matches, with a dismal loss at relegation rivals West Ham proving the final straw in his troubled reign.
Languishing second from bottom of the Premier League, Everton had set their sights on former Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa before eventually appointing Dyche.
Everton’s eighth permanent manager since Farhad Moshiri took ownership of the club in 2016 is aware that some fans have already criticised his appointment.
Dyche’s Burnley teams were known for hard work rather than the quality of their often-rudimentary attacking play, but the new Everton boss defended his philosophy.
