Kevin Campbell hailed Sean Dyche for working on the “minds” of Everton players amid the 10-point deduction he is convinced would have relegated the Toffees in previous seasons.
Everton were handed the controversial punishment for a breach of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, something the club have appealed against.
Former Everton striker, speaking to Sky Sports on Tuesday (12 December, 10:22am), believes the club would not have recovered from the deduction in past seasons like they have currently, as a three-game winning run has moved them four points clear of the drop.
“I think he’s had to go in there and win the minds over, because 10 points is a lot of points, if you look at where Everton were in the last couple of seasons and you take 10 points off them they’ll have got relegated, 100 per cent they’ll have got relegated,” he said.
“So I know it was earlier in the season, but he’s had to work on the minds, he’s had to get the players all together, and he’s had to get them moving in the right direction.”
It is just a simple truth that Everton would have been relegated had this punishment been awarded in the past two seasons, with the club barely avoiding the drop in both of the two previous campaigns.
The timing of the punishment seems to have had a real galvanising effect on the team, though, with three brilliant wins helping Everton back out of the relegation zone.
There is a real unity among the squad, who are fighting for everything, and that has been replicated among the brilliant Toffees fanbase, who are energised and giving everything from the stands to back their team.
Of course there are a lot of off-field issues leaving a grey cloud hanging over the club, and there are plenty of worries to deal with. But, on the pitch at least, there has been a turnaround and credit should go to Dyche and the players for that, Campbell is absolutely right.
