00:00David, first of all, James Garner named in the England squad, the full England squad for the first time. What's
00:04your reaction?
00:05Disappointed. I thought he was Scottish. I hoped that he would select Scotland instead of England.
00:12But, no, thrilled for Jimmy. He's played well enough to be selected, absolutely. He's been very good all season.
00:20What do you think has been the key for him, the way he's progressed again this season?
00:24I think he's just matured a lot more and gained a lot more confidence. I don't think it was ever
00:31in doubt that he was always a good player, Jimmy.
00:32But I think to step up to the level required to be an international player, you have to really show
00:38good things.
00:39Probably more importantly for him is the level of competition to be a central midfield player for England is so
00:45high.
00:46So, great credit to him and great for Everton Football Club as well.
00:50And can you bring us up to date with how you are squad-wise, I'm thinking, Jared Branthwaite, James Tarkovsky?
00:54Yeah, both hopefully will be in and around the squad tomorrow.
00:57Again, how much of a boost is that for you, going into another big game for you guys?
01:00Yeah, I mean, we've done great without them. So, if we didn't have them, then I'd be fine. But we've
01:07got them back amongst it, I think.
01:08Again, David, what do you take away from that performance that you put in against Arsenal last weekend?
01:13Well, we didn't take away what we really wanted, was to get some points from it.
01:16But I think if you're looking back and trying to find things to be positive about, I think there was
01:21plenty of them.
01:23Players played really well, put in a really good performance for long parts of the game.
01:29Scoring goals is the thing, but then when you come up against Arsenal, they make it really difficult for you
01:33to score.
01:34So, maybe a little bit of a reason behind that.
01:37But overall, we came away disappointed but pleased with how we've done.
01:41How do you assess the test you're facing against Chelsea this weekend?
01:44As big. And I think as well as that, you know, they're a little bit wounded.
01:50So, we've got to be ready for them coming to our place and seeing how they perform.
01:55But there's undoubtedly, you know, you're talking about a very talented group of players.
01:59David, you're obviously the first person from the club we've been able to speak to since the verdict about Chelsea
02:04and the punishment that they've received.
02:06I just wonder, because it seems to be that there's an unhappiness around the club,
02:10certainly from the fan base at least, feeling that Everton were treated a lot differently to Chelsea.
02:15What are your thoughts on the subject?
02:17I would actually like to hear a bit more about it before I probably made too much a comment.
02:22I think I'm expecting more of the details and why, and this isn't against Chelsea.
02:30You know, I wasn't at Everton during the times when we were deducted a huge points number.
02:37And also, I wasn't in Chelsea when things were happening there.
02:40So, we could do with finding it a little bit more.
02:42I don't think they've explained it well enough in the reasoning why that is what the fine was and why
02:50it was.
02:51Thanks, David. Good luck.
02:52Thanks, Vinny. We'll go to Fraser from Premier League Productions.
02:55Like you say, David, Chelsea may be just one winning seven, but a talented group.
03:00How much of a measure is this perhaps for you, for your ambitions,
03:05given that they've constantly been at a side that have been pushing for trophies in recent years?
03:10Well, I think it's like any other Premier League game.
03:12You only get three points for it, but the level of the opposition can change from week to week.
03:15And this season in the Premier League, every game has been incredibly hard.
03:19I don't think there's been a game where you could turn around and say,
03:22yeah, you could turn up and take three points.
03:26So, Chelsea are certainly one of the better teams.
03:28They started under Liam really well.
03:31I think they get five or six wins in the bounce and then had a couple of games
03:34where they've had really, really difficult Champions League games
03:37against maybe the best team in Europe alongside Arsenal.
03:42So, who knows?
03:44But, look, got to play them all twice and we play them again this week.
03:49And given the fact that you're only a couple of places behind them now,
03:52how much of a suggestion is that of just how much progress that you've made
03:56as a team over all these seasons?
04:00Look, we're very pleased for the compliment about us making improvements
04:03and we hope that is the case.
04:07We want to go further.
04:08We want to try and do more if we can.
04:11But ultimately, we're also not daft to know that we've already made
04:15some pretty good strides at the moment.
04:18Thanks, Fraser.
04:19We'll go to Julia at Radio News.
04:21Hi, Julia.
04:22Hi, David.
04:23The England manager today has been speaking about James Garner.
04:26Understandably, he said he likes the fact he can play right back, left back,
04:30the number eight, the number six position, all of which he's had to do for Everton.
04:33So, where do you see his best position right now for Everton
04:36and possibly for England?
04:38I think he's probably a number eight.
04:42But really, I think there might be a future for Jimmy to be a really good number six as well.
04:46So, I think that he can do both those jobs.
04:50He's done brilliantly well and he's had to fill in at full back
04:52when we've had suspensions or injuries.
04:56So, I think the modern day footballer nowadays probably has to be a little bit more flexible
05:01than maybe in the past.
05:03I think maybe just being able to do one role might have been fine.
05:06But I think the players of this era, this generation,
05:10are expected to be able to play in different roles.
05:12Jimmy's been great.
05:13Done it great.
05:16Fully warrants his call.
05:18Given how close you went with Arsenal at the weekend,
05:22right until the end of the game,
05:24when you've been in here talking about it this week
05:26and in training with the players,
05:28have you had to pick everyone up
05:29or can you take the positives from the first 88 minutes
05:33and focus on that more?
05:35Yeah, we can.
05:37I think the players at the moment have got a bit of confidence.
05:40I think they've showed it.
05:41I thought they showed it in their performance at Arsenal
05:43and the way they played.
05:44Certainly after the opening 15 minutes,
05:47I thought we'd done very well.
05:51But we got nicked at the end,
05:52and we were disappointed with it.
05:54But for those other parts you mentioned,
05:56I think they've done a really good job
05:58and it looked as if we were going to get another positive result away from home.
06:02We just couldn't quite go over the line with it.
06:04But hopefully we can keep it going.
06:06I've not felt any in amongst the players that it's hanging on us
06:11because we lost at Arsenal.
06:13I think we're all looking forward to getting Chelsea
06:15and seeing what we can do in the next game.
06:17I know you want more information on the Chelsea verdict.
06:20You've spoken about that.
06:21But just generally in football,
06:23we speak about VAR now.
06:25We speak about rule books.
06:26We speak about finances.
06:27I know fans feel quite jaded.
06:29I just wonder what your take is
06:31as someone who's had a long career in football.
06:32Do you think we're talking about so many other things now in football
06:35and not just the game anymore?
06:38Yeah, but the business you work in is the media
06:40where you need all these things to talk about.
06:42And the more you get, the better.
06:43The more you get, you sort of keep emphasising them.
06:47But I'm reiterating what I said earlier on the other thing.
06:51I think it would be good if we heard a little bit more
06:53about how the decision got to Chelsea,
06:56how they got to that decision of fine
06:59rather than points deduction, for example.
07:02So you know Barry was in the headlines
07:03after the game for social media posts.
07:05I just wondered, is that something you've spoken about in here with him?
07:08Yeah, we spoke about it.
07:09The club was spoken to him.
07:11So, yeah, we've addressed it the best we possibly can.
07:14But it's not my world, to be honest.
07:17You're disappointed, though.
07:18It becomes something, doesn't it,
07:20when it gets put on social media?
07:22Well, if you understand social media,
07:25you'll know more about it than me.
07:27I don't get involved.
07:29It's bad enough seeing what you...
07:31paper people writing and journalists.
07:33So I stick to that.
07:36And I certainly don't need to go looking for criticism
07:39because there's plenty out there.
07:40You're not an Instagrammer or a TikTokker or anything?
07:43Not at all.
07:43Not at all.
07:44Thank you. Good luck.
07:46Thanks, Julie.
07:47Any further questions in the open section before we move on?
07:51Yeah, sorry, there's one more.
07:53I just want to ask about...
07:54The doughnut has been put there.
07:55It's been designed by the Junior Fans Forum.
07:58I know you met with some of the Everton and the Community Project
08:00yesterday, and it is to raise money, isn't it, for the charity?
08:03It is.
08:04Since you've come back,
08:05I know you've seen some of the projects as well in between training
08:07and things like this.
08:09Is that what Everton is about as a club?
08:11It certainly is.
08:12And actually, it's probably one of the things which,
08:14probably from day one when I first arrived here,
08:16it was always building.
08:18They were building everything in the community
08:20and trying to make it stronger.
08:22There was a lot of things needed fixed,
08:25even in and around the Goodison at the time.
08:29They went out and done as much as they possibly could
08:31to make things better.
08:33I think they've done a really good job over many years.
08:35I've been away for a while,
08:36but the work I saw them do yesterday was fantastic.
08:40And I'm looking at their doughnuts,
08:42what they're hoping that people will buy.
08:44Some of you in here can't afford not to buy it,
08:47but can't be eating it.
08:48I'm looking at your waistlines.
08:52But I'm hoping that yous will donate the doughnuts to others.
08:59But just to mention, I've had a few myself.
09:03I was going to ask you because the kids have come up with that.
09:05What's it taste like?
09:06Is it nice?
09:06Yeah, no, no.
09:07As seen as we're not allowed.
09:08I need to stay away from that.
09:10That's one thing I do know.
09:12But it's great.
09:13And if you don't want to eat the doughnut,
09:16at least donate a little bit
09:17and give the doughnut to somebody else.
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