Sean Dyche declared things have “got to change” at Everton after leading the club to Premier League survival.
The Blues boss said avoiding the drop to the Championship was a significant boost but stressed no-one should be ignorant to the size of the challenge facing the club if it is to improve on the pitch.
He said he had told his players they should enjoy the post-match relief but told reporters this was a “horrible day” when viewed in a wider context.
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Everton’s top flight status was secured due to Abdoulaye Doucoure’s stunning second half strike, a goal that gave the Blues a 1-0 victory against Bournemouth. It was a goal that calmed tension around Goodison Park as supporters dealt with news Leicester City were leading West Ham United – meaning only an Everton win would lead to survival.
Speaking after the game, Dyche was brutally honest in assessing the scale of the task facing the club if it is to move forward.
He said: “It’s a horrible day for all concerned, there is no joy in it for me other than getting the job done: loads of work, trying to compact so much change in such a relatively short period – particularly with injuries and suspensions, contracts and all the stuff going on here, the underlying bigger news of Everton which since I’ve been here has been more or less negative about everything so that I’ve had to try to change and that’s been difficult.
“But the positive side is we got the job done, the players played their part without doubt. I came in here to change a mentality and I think there have been signs of that. There is still more to go.
“I said to the players: ‘We shouldn’t be here. Enjoy this today and you’ve earned it but at the end of the day it has got to change.’ There is no point in sitting on it and saying ‘look how great we are’ because it is not like that.
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