Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on Everton's Transfer Deadline Day and Squad Confidence
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sat through transfer deadline day like every Everton supporter: glued to his phone, riding the highs, then the confusion, then the anger. Only his frustration came from a different place.
As the window slammed shut, Everton had fewer players than when it opened, one recognised striker, and no natural cover at either full-back. A £40m deal for US international Folarin Balogun collapsed at the last moment, the forward walking away minutes after a deal sheet had gone in. Outside the club, the reaction was volcanic. Inside Finch Farm, the mood, Dewsbury-Hall insists, is very different.
“The mood is really good, to be honest,” he says. “Definitely not the same as what I’ve seen on the outside. There’s a good mentality this year of: ‘We’ll show everyone.’”
On the pitch, Everton have backed that up.
Anger at the “meltdowns”
Dewsbury-Hall does not hide from the fury that greeted the club’s business under The Friedkin Group. He has seen the timelines, the phone-ins, the prophecies of doom. He did not enjoy them.
“I’ve seen all of the reactions, all of the meltdowns, and in all honesty it annoyed me a bit,” he says, choosing his words carefully but not softening the edge. “I get where people are coming from; everyone wants to sign everyone and have the perfect squad. But there are still 19 lads in this building who are going to hopefully take this club to good things this year. That was getting disregarded.
“I saw people saying: ‘We’ll be lucky to stay up this year.’ What message is that sending to the lads who are already here? I’m not blaming anyone. We get it. It didn’t work. But let’s all be positive – right, it’s done, bang, let’s go – and that’s what we’ve been trying to say in the dressing room. Of course we would have wanted to sign a couple more, but we’re happy with what we’ve got and it’s given us more impetus now to move on.”
David Moyes has already voiced his concern about what a chaotic window might say to his players at a time when he is trying to drag standards higher. A manager can sense when belief is slipping. So has the squad felt that sting?
“Not really, no,” Dewsbury-Hall replies. “I know we’ve got a smaller squad but we’ve got some really good players. Our starting XI is top, a European starting XI.
“I get it, you need a whole squad, but we’ve got 17, 18 players at a really, really good level. I don’t think a couple of years ago it was at that level. Actually I know it wasn’t. Things can be out of your hands in football and that’s what happened for us. But we quickly realised: ‘Hang on a minute, look around the dressing room – top player, top player, top player.’ If we’re doing the right things we can still be successful.”
From Chelsea frustration to Everton fulcrum
Dewsbury-Hall’s conviction carries weight because of what he has become at Everton. Signed for £28m from Chelsea last summer, he has turned himself from a player stuck on the fringes at Stamford Bridge into one of Moyes’s central pillars.
He knew he had to leave.
“I’m in the prime years of my career,” he says. “I couldn’t afford to spend more years stagnating.”
At 28, he now influences Everton in more ways than one. When Séamus Coleman left in the summer, he took with him more than a right-back’s shirt; he left a leadership vacuum. The club responded by creating a new leadership group. Dewsbury-Hall, after just one season on Merseyside, was voted into it.
“Because Séamus has left such a big hole we need a group of experienced lads to crack on together and keep the standards high and to drive things,” he explains. “It’s just the more experienced lads – [Jordan] Pickford, Tarky [James Tarkowski, the new club captain], Jimmy [James] Garner, myself. The ones that have been playing in the Premier League for years or feel like they are settled at the club.
“It’s nice [to be voted in after just one season] but it’s definitely an impact I wanted to have. I’m really pleased that the lads look at me as someone that can be important for the dressing room.”
He has become a voice, not just a passing option.
Protecting the kids – and teasing them
That sense of responsibility stretches to the next generation. Harrison Armstrong, 19, came within a whisker of leaving on deadline day, a deal with Nottingham Forest close enough to spark fury in the away end at Bournemouth. Evertonians made themselves heard. The owners listened. The move was scrapped.
“They definitely made their feelings known and obviously it worked,” Dewsbury-Hall says. “Big credit to them for that, they were amazing that day. And I know for a fact it made Harrison feel very good and it helped him. He is a very confident lad and well respected in the dressing room for such a young age.
“If there is anything I can help him with then I will. Shooting’s definitely one because his shooting is sometimes not the best, and I’ve told him that many times. But he’s got pretty much everything else. He always likes to say he’s got a better strike than me so I just tell him to look at the [Crystal] Palace goal or the Wolves goal last season. We have good banter.”
Behind the jokes sits something serious: a senior player making sure a talented teenager feels valued at a club whose fanbase has already fought to keep him.
Europe, cups and England
Dewsbury-Hall is not shy about what he wants from this season. He lists his aims clearly: European qualification, a deep cup run, improvement in every part of his game, and a first England call-up.
The last of those no longer feels distant. His form has registered with Thomas Tuchel, who names his next England squad on Friday. Dewsbury-Hall knows he is in the conversation because the Football Association has told him.
“I know I’m the closest I have ever been now,” he says. “You get a message two weeks before the squad is announced. I got one for the long list for the World Cup and I’ve had one for these next games. It’s nice. It means you are doing OK.
“It’s a long, long message. It tells you that it’s a legal requirement for us [the Football Association] to tell you in advance that you are in contention and to be available for these dates. It’s a good feeling because you think: ‘OK, I am close,’ but you know you have to keep pushing it to the last minute. It’s up to me. It’s got to be me that forces his hand to choose me. It’s not going to be given to me.”
That last line could double as Everton’s motto for the season. Nothing will be handed to them. Not with a thin squad, an angry fanbase and questions swirling around the club’s direction.
Dewsbury-Hall is adamant they will push on anyway. The window is closed. The noise outside is deafening. Inside, he looks around the dressing room and sees enough.
