00:00Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our pre-match press conference to preview our game against Newcastle United.
00:18We'll start off with Vinny from Scotland.
00:19David, first of all, can we take a check on Jarrod Branthwaite? How serious is the injury?
00:23And was it a case of the injury keeping him out of the England squad this time around?
00:27Yeah, well, I don't know if he's been named in England squad, but I can tell you that he's injured and he won't be available.
00:33It's probably an injury probably four or five weeks, his hamstring, so there's not much we can do about it.
00:40It's a big loss to us, but we have to live with it just now.
00:44Seamus Coleman as well?
00:45Seamus Coleman's got a thigh strain, yes, so Seamus is not available either.
00:49Obviously, it's been announced this week that Abdelai Dekore would be leaving the club. How do you feel about that now?
00:54Well, I think he's been a great servant for the club. He's done a great job over many years here.
01:01We've made him an offer and he's got a better one to go elsewhere, so from that point of view, we have to live with that as well.
01:09So we're quite comfortable with that.
01:11Obviously, we're also trying to look to rebuild and make things better and try to see what we can do more.
01:20So we wanted him to stay, but obviously he's chosen to take a better offer.
01:25Given you wanted him to stay, how difficult a player is he to replace, given what he brings and his ability to get around the pitch as much as anything?
01:31More Evertonians than a lot of people who've watched Everton over the years will tell me how good he's been for the club.
01:36I remember him greatly from his Watford days and obviously here as well.
01:40And I can only say since I've been here, he's been really, really good.
01:44We've just a bit selected him in every game we've played.
01:47So we'll miss him, but I've got no hard feelings from his decision.
01:52It's a decision he chose which he thought was best.
01:55Anything further on those others out of contract?
01:58Drissa Garnagay, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Michael Keane as well?
02:01Yeah, we'll probably, we'll certainly do something by, we'll put something out on Monday after the game.
02:06We'll get one more game to play and try to keep a focus on that.
02:11The club obviously made a statement though about online abuse received by Dominic.
02:15Have you spoken to him? How is he?
02:16I've not spoken to Dom directly about it, but obviously the club made me well aware of it.
02:21We're aware of the situation, what happened in there.
02:25And obviously it's something which we completely condemn.
02:28I don't do social media, so I try to stay away from it completely.
02:32But I do know that getting any form of abuse is not correct.
02:37Just with the loan players as well, do they fall into the same bracket as maybe an announcement on Mondo?
02:41Is this effectively where their association ends?
02:44Yeah, well, everybody will know their position.
02:47As I say, while you'll still get games to play, it's quite difficult.
02:50So we need a lot of the players to play for us and be ready to play.
02:54But most of the players are well aware of other situations.
02:57You're now secure in 13th place as well with that final victory at Goodison Park as well.
03:03How do you feel about getting to that position now, given what the position was when you took over?
03:08Well, I think that I don't know if we could have got much, much better than where we are when we first came in.
03:15Crystal Palace, they've been in a really good second half of the season and obviously have gone and won the cup as well.
03:19So they were about the only team who were sort of in there that we could have even thought about catching at the time.
03:25But I have to say I'm really, really pleased for us to get the point.
03:29So we've finished them with an awful lot of big sides, good sides.
03:33And the players have done a brilliant job.
03:35They really have.
03:36We now need to pick that up again, start the next season and hopefully take it into the new stadium, but also into the new season.
03:44I think you've said about what you want to get back to.
03:46I mean, I remember in 2005, obviously beating Newcastle at Goodison Park to effectively qualify for Champions League.
03:52Newcastle have that opportunity, obviously, this weekend as well.
03:55Yeah, it's a great achievement for Newcastle.
03:58It could be a great achievement for Newcastle.
04:00And, you know, they've already won a trophy this year, so they've done a remarkable job at Newcastle.
04:05They really have done.
04:06And, you know, it's become a football club which is challenging all the big sides.
04:13So they'll give us a really good game.
04:15It'll be a tough day for us to go to Newcastle.
04:17But we've been good away from home.
04:19We want to keep our form going.
04:22Obviously, we're missing a few players, but we'll go there, hopefully, with that confidence that we can get a result.
04:27And when you are missing players, it's opportunities for others.
04:29What are you hoping to see, given that, obviously, you are secure in that position,
04:32but Newcastle have so much to play for in terms of their league position?
04:36Yeah, well, we've seen most of the players now, and I think we know most of the players.
04:39So, you know, we'll need to make sure that we've got the right players there and give us every opportunity.
04:45But, yeah, it might be an opportunity for the odd one because of some injuries.
04:50But, no, we want to go there and put on a good show.
04:53Thanks, David.
04:53Cheers.
04:54Thanks, Finney.
04:55Well, God's a silent.
04:56It's sure to be an incredible atmosphere up there as well.
04:59As far as your lads are concerned, do you need to get them to sort of match the passion that they will show
05:05and the players will undoubtedly show as well?
05:07Or is there arguably less pressure on your lads and they can just go out and be free?
05:11Well, there's certainly less pressure because the players over the years have been in a much difficult position at this time.
05:17So I see that a little bit.
05:20But I think every football game, you're out there.
05:23You've got to perform.
05:23There's no hiding place.
05:25You have the media.
05:26You have your own families to play.
05:27You've got your manager to play in front of.
05:29So you've got to put on a show and you've got to play well.
05:31Part of your job as a player is to do that.
05:35But let's be fair.
05:35If you'd given me this position when I first took over, that we were going into the last game,
05:40not needing any points at Newcastle and being as high as we possibly could be roughly,
05:46I'd have taken it all day long.
05:47So great credit we've got in that position.
05:49But we want to go and see if we can make it difficult for Newcastle.
05:54As far as you personally are concerned, it's clearly my work that you've put in here since you came back to Everton.
06:01Will you afford yourself a chance to properly switch off for a while?
06:05Did you ever do that?
06:07Well, it's never easy when you're the manager to ever switch off.
06:10You're always on the phone.
06:11You're always taking calls.
06:14As you know, we've got a lot of business probably to do or look to do in the summer.
06:18So I think we'll be pretty busy.
06:21So I don't think I'll be too far away from the phone.
06:23But I'm going to take some time off.
06:25I think we've worked hard in the three or four months we've been here to try and get ourselves in a strong position.
06:31We've certainly kept ourselves a Premier League club.
06:35And so the next part is to grow it.
06:38So that's a little bit harder that we now need to take it forward.
06:41But looking forward to it.
06:44Thanks, Simon.
06:44We'll go to Mike at Radio Merseyside.
06:46Hi, Mike.
06:47Hi, David.
06:47If you look at your return, 28 points from 19 matches since you took over.
06:55What do you think enabled you to get the very best out of the players?
06:59Because obviously you've been a manager with a lot of experience.
07:03But you took over a squad that we used to get in beta, if you like.
07:08And that's not an easy habit to get rid of.
07:12But now they look completely different.
07:15I have to say, I think the crowd played a huge part.
07:20I think getting the crowd onside here at Goodison, as everybody knows.
07:23And, you know, not just at Goodison, in the away games as well.
07:27You know, the away support was able to go and see us win at Brighton, see us win at Crystal Palace, you know, do well at Brentford.
07:32And on the road, we've picked up some really good results, which obviously, if you're in a away support and you're going to all the games, you want to see your team being competitive.
07:40Sort of, I think at home, we started great.
07:45You know, you think of how Beto came on the scene out of nowhere and got his goals.
07:49When we were, you know, in this room, everybody was asking me, how are you going to score any goals or how are you going to make any goals?
07:55We've, I think we've done pretty well in that department.
07:58I think we've always looked a threat in the games.
08:01And so I really do think that the big thing is we've got the crowd back on our side.
08:07And I really do.
08:07They play such a part to have the support there.
08:11But I would be completely out of order if I didn't mention how well the players have done.
08:15I think the players have stepped up unbelievably well.
08:18I've said many times about Sean Dyche has left a lot of really good habits, a lot of good things at the football club here.
08:24A lot of things which have been ingrained in the club, even from my earlier time and probably before as well.
08:30But I have to say that if you look at that group of players to where they are now, you would have probably said there's no chance they could do that.
08:37And I have to give them all my great credit and thank them for their efforts.
08:42Given the number of players that are out of contract and the loan situation as well,
08:48have you had to be a little bit more fluid in your thinking for what you'd like to do for next season?
08:52Because with the best will in the world, it's going to be really difficult to change things around in one window, isn't it?
08:58Absolutely.
08:59I think it's more something which we have to realise and everybody will have to realise.
09:05We've got an awful lot of players at a contract.
09:07We've got the most players on loan of any club in the Premier League.
09:11We have to find a way of starting to get back on the correct road.
09:16We'll try and do that.
09:17We'll try and sign some players, but we'll also have to keep some players as well.
09:21And if we keep them in the play as well as they've done this season, that's not a problem
09:27because our position and the way the players have played has been really good in the last couple of months.
09:34So from that point of view, I've got no problems with keeping them all at the moment because they're doing so well.
09:39But we want to add and we want to become better and we're going to try and do that.
09:43And during the summer, transfer-wise, you've got to be nimble and fleet of thought and adaptable.
09:50How much encouragement have you had so far when you've spoken to the representatives of the players that you'd like to bring in?
09:57Well, we've not spoke to many because that would be wrong and I wouldn't put myself in a position where we're breaking any rules or anything
10:05because we want to be fair and do things in the correct manner.
10:10So we've got a lot of things in place.
10:12We're obviously touching base with some people to see what their thoughts are.
10:16Would they like to join the club?
10:17And we're looking to see what situation is going to happen here with the players who we'll speak to about new contracts, etc.
10:24So there's a lot of things going on at the moment behind the scenes
10:27and we'll try and bring the supporters up to date as quickly as we possibly can.
10:32It's just not quite possible to relay all the information at the moment.
10:37Thanks, Mike.
10:37Any further questions in the open section before we move on?
10:41Yep.
10:42Damon.
10:43How special was it for you to manage the final game at Grison Park,
10:47having been in the club for 11 years prior?
10:51Incredibly special.
10:52It really was.
10:53It was a brilliant day for so many and in lots of ways.
10:57I thought the crowd were fantastic on the day.
11:02We got a result, which was the most important thing.
11:04We hadn't played at our best, but we'd done enough to win.
11:07As it is, that win's got us 13th and we can't go drop any more than that now.
11:13From that point of view, it was probably a really good day.
11:17I think the biggest thing for us all was to say,
11:21I think to have a support which comes in its numbers the way it did was immense,
11:25you know, from so early in the morning.
11:28And I was saying, you know, it makes you think what would it be like
11:31if we were really going to challenge for something and could get back in amongst it.
11:35I don't want to put myself under pressure by saying that,
11:40but the fan base what the club's got obviously is ready for success in some sort.
11:48Maybe the end of this season has given us all that feeling that we want it back.
11:55Thanks very much.
11:56We'll now move on to the embargoes.
11:59And then we'll see you guys next time.
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