Robbie Savage shares ‘realistic aim’ for Everton and Sean Dyche this season
Everton could finish in the top half of the Premier League this season, according to player-turned-pundit Robbie Savage.
The Toffees just about survived relegation from England’s top flight last year as Sean Dyche came in midway through the season and helped guide the club to safety.
Despite these struggles, Savage has suggested that there will be a massive upturn of fortunes at Goodison Park during the upcoming campaign and has plenty of faith in Dyche, who the 48-year-old pundit believes you cannot “underestimate”.
“I think Everton could finish in the top half. Let’s not underestimate Sean Dyche – he got Burnley to seventh in the Premier League with one of the lowest budgets, and he kept them in it season after season,” Savage told Star Sports (6 August).
“We’re still early in the transfer window, so I think they will have recruited by the time the season starts, they still need a number nine who can score goals. I think Sean Dyche and his coaching staff, you can’t underestimate how much they can transform a football club.
“Burnley qualified for Europe, and let’s be fair, Everton have got all the acumens to be a top-six side, top-seven side. I think Dyche can get them into that top half, and 10th would be a realistic aim for them.”
Bold prediction
There is no doubt that when you take Savage’s prediction at the surface level, it is out there. Many supporters might even scoff at the idea that Dyche’s men could push for a top-half finish, although the pundit does make some reasonable points.
Everton have been way off the pace over the past few years and involved in relegation fights that a club of their size should not be involved in and Savage is spot on in suggesting that they should be fighting higher up the table.
And while he wouldn’t have had a chance to prove that last season, Dyche is a manager who has demonstrated that he can take a club with a small squad and budget to the top end of the division. Few would have predicted Burnley would finish seventh and few will now be predicting Everton to finish in the top half.
Could Dyche be about to work his magic once again?
In other Everton news, a striker has now agreed personal terms with the club as his arrival draws closer.