 Welcome to Toffy TV, and to you all by Adam Jones from the Liverpool Echo, Evan Correspondence. So we'd just have a little chat about what was it, a bisec season for a number of reasons. It was actually talking to someone out for some food with a couple of people yesterday and we were just going through what had actually happened in the season and it was like bisec. It's not quiet is it? Never quiet. I just think you just kept adding on top and going, I'll remember that or something like that. It seemed to be the perfect storm for relegation that season. I think that's probably the perfect way to sum it up isn't it? There was just so much going against Evan that he just fell into all of the right traps. I suppose he brought the wrong manager in at the start of the season. The players went playing for that manager when it came to the crux in the season in the middle. We had all of the VAR controversies, the played into it as well, injuries to key players. The played into it all as well. It did come to a point in the season where I was thinking to myself, If we got out of this we would have done better. But fair play. I still don't think it was perfect towards the end of the season at all. There were still injuries and VAR and stuff like that. I think the way everybody at the club knitted it together towards the latter stages of the season from fans, players, coaching staff, everybody else who works at the club as well who encouraged all of that at the end of the season as well. It's got a lot of credit. It's got to go to that. Let's just have a quiet one next season please. I've been moaning about mid-table. I've been mid-table in no fears of going down or anything. It's been saying it's boring but I'll take a boring season. Just on the injury thing, do you find it? I find it really maddening that it is kind of just skated over. It's like Everton with rubbish as well. Let's have it right. We were crap at times of course. Players didn't perform the managers were poor, whatever, whatever, whatever. But the injuries, I hear other teachers for leads, no Bamford, no Phillips. These didn't have them to players. If you go through Everton's injury, we had everybody injured. We had the whole spine out for months and months. I think we ended up with 44 injuries which was more than anyone else. Do you think that is a big contributing factor to where Everton were as well as the rest of the stuff going on? I'm not trying to make excuses but how big a part are you thinking injuries played in it? I think it's got to play a crucial part hasn't it really? I mean especially when you just consider the injuries to two players. For example Calvert Lewin, I would say the player who scored 20 odd goals for us the season before. He's made your focal point of the team and instantly he's gone for four months. Obviously that kind of hampered him for the rest of the season as well. That injury kind of led to other little knocks. What have you for the next few months? He was just desperate to get himself back to full fitness and just pushing himself a little bit too hard. Then yet he made it as well. On his day is Everton's best centre back. For the majority of the season I think he only played 25% of the minutes for Everton last season which is crucial isn't it? Take any other team's best centre back out of the team for 75% of the season. They're going to play worse. I mean I don't know what you say. There were a lot of mythogating factors that contributed to Everton's season. To be fair I don't think you can look past the injuries because especially the fact they just came up with the worst times as well. D'Corey was getting injured. Alan got more injured. You could go through everybody in the squad. I think literally everybody got injured at some point. It is hard because as you say you don't want to make excuses in a sense. That was certainly a big contributing factor. That's got to be, I think the man that he did the lead to this did near the end of the season so he'll get more robust players. That's got to be surely where he's at. It's no surprise that you're looking at James Tarkovski in that sense isn't it? Because his injury record over the past few years has been pretty... It's been pretty strong over the past few years so you'd hope that that is maybe playing into their thinking a little bit somebody who's just going to be a reliable presence at the back and obviously it helps that he's a really good defender as well. I think his skill on the ball is a little bit underrated as well. He's showing that he can play in a three-man defence as well as just a four at the back as well which I think is probably promising considering we don't really know what sort of system Lampard and Thelwell are going to play going forwards. I would suggest it probably will be a four at the back. It's good to be flexible isn't it? It's no surprise to me that Tarkovski must be right at the top of the list. Yeah, I mean if anything can get him in quickly and he looks, you know, all the reports around it and the noise around it and the confidence that they've won the race so it will be good to start off with that. What did you make of Frank Lampard? Because I still feel like there's a few different things about him and there's always like a negative undertow with it and I don't understand it because Stephen Gerrard, I've said this before, has been held up as doing an unbelievable job of fillering and yet almost setting the record similar or Lampard is actually better. I know going into the last few games Lampard was better. It might have flipped slightly because Filly got a couple of wins at the end but do you think he's been harshly judged by? I know he hasn't been perfect and he was. Did make some errors at the start but all. I'm not sure if he makes mistakes don't be. But I feel fine that it's time so far. I do feel like he's been rather harshly judged and I'm not sure it's necessarily because of what he's done at Everton. I do think it's because of the profile that he has in the past. If you compare him to Gerrard, he's never had a job like the Chelsea job and he's never been sacked from a job like the Chelsea job either so I think maybe in terms of a national sense that's still playing on some people's minds when they think of Lampard, they think to themselves oh well you only had that one season at Darby and then he got sacked by Chelsea so how good is he really? That thing, he's took everything from 16 to 16. That's just the way the other teams look at it isn't it? You've just got to hope that in the future he'll absolutely prove them wrong. Evertonians know just how good he's been. I was just saying to somebody earlier in the week he's just such an intelligent manager and I think he shows that not just in terms of his coaching sense he does still have improvements to make but young manager he's going to have to make these improvements but I think he's just intelligent in the way he presents himself the way he addresses supporters the way he seems to address his players as well the way he just carries himself around the club he's somebody who just carries himself with a certain amount of respect for everything around him he's under no illusions about how big Everton are as a club and you get that every time that you speak to him he just really seems to have a passion for football and a passion for wanting... he wants to prove himself of course but he wants to get Everton away from this end of the table as well so I think that's really promising to see and those are the kind of positive aspects that you really need to focus on at the end of the day. Definitely, I mean have you found them as the analyst in terms because obviously you've spoken to the last few managers we've had and Carlo probably not as close as he wanted to because of Covid but have you found dealing with Lampard so far? To be fair I think it was the same with Benitez as well Benitez never had an in-person press conference either it was all still the Covid thing so again it's hard to get a gauge on when you're doing it through a laptop it's tough but with Lampard... Rephrase it, have you found Frank? He's just a lovely guy he's just a down to earth lovely fella and again it sounds simple to say but he's just got so much time for your questions and I think what I really like about him as well especially over the last few months he's had to deal with a lot of tough questions perhaps regarding the club's financial situation or with Vitaly Michalenco and his situation with Ukraine there's a lot of tough questions that have been put his way and the Chelsea situation as well but what I like about him is that he's big enough to go I'm not really clued up on this situation enough so I'm not comfortable enough to give an answer and again that's simple but that's just perfect it's just addressing you like you're a person to a fan watching that you're thinking alright well he's addressing me like like I'm just... I've found that I think a lot of managers don't realise but they maybe forget that when they're in those press conferences they're not only talking to you, they're talking to the fans and I think that's something he's done really well cos like someone like Marco Silvery I still think he's a good coach and he's done well just was never able to engage properly he was very closed I think with Silvery from my dealings with him I think there was a certain... I don't know whether he was just nervous in front of the camera but there was a definite difference between him when he was on camera and then we'd have separate conversations with him afterwards without the broadcast and he was just so much more danceware and relaxed and he would open up a little bit more I do remember like asking him a couple of questions he just loved talking tactics my house over so like if you ask him a tactical question you know you've got him for five minutes he's just going to talk on in a similar way Lampard is in that sense if you ask him a question about something really specific then he will just like he'll go and he'll give you his honest thought about it as well which is somewhat of a rarity in modern football these days just to have someone speak so openly and honestly with you is really promising so fingers crossed I'm working with him for a long time hopefully because that I think more than anything we need that stability because that's being key what do you think this summer then obviously we know there's financial restraint of course we do we're probably going off the sell one of our big players but that's just the nature of the game what do you think looking forward to next season in terms of what Everton after trying to do in this transfer window you can't flip half a squad you just can't do it as much as we probably would love to we can't do it so when you're looking at Everton transfer targets what are you hoping to see come through the door you don't have to name specific players but what are you hoping the type of player is going in the profile of that kind of player I think you've just got a prioritiser haven't you and I suppose it's maybe hard to judge when you don't know which players are potentially going to be leaving the club Midfield for instance Midfield certainly I would suggest a defensive midfielder I would suggest some of these capable of picking up the ball from the centre back carrying it and distributing it properly I think Lewis Warrington might be that player in the future but whether he's Premier League ready as of yet I'm not sure about that I think Fabian Delph is really good at that but obviously you've got concerns over his fitness he's out of contract now do you offer him a new contract I'll say for you're at them though it has to be massively reduced terms I would suggest he's the kind of interest and player that I'm thinking that if you put in priorities of where Everton are desperate for additions if you've got Delph there and you can guarantee that he's going to play a certain amount of games then you're maybe not as desperate in that position as you are in other positions but as I say the problem is you can't guarantee that I do think that probably defensive midfield has to become a priority just because of that centre back is another really interesting one because you've just got to presume that somebody somebody's going to leave there the next one maybe is going to leave there so even if Tarkovsky does come in I would argue that another centre back probably would be something that I'd personally be looking at Carl Willsbyn mentioned that he's only young but I think he'd be a fantastic from what I've seen of him at Hosefield I think he'd be a fantastic addition I think we have that at some stage you've got to move a wifer and develop on other people's players but when you're getting them and you've got an option on them then by all means bring them in and say like this is what we're doing but you're right to get them in you're talking probably a couple of our centre backs going on I mentioned Mina before I love Jerry Mina but eleven, twelve games a season you just can't rely on it well it's a similar situation to Delford probably not as extreme but you can't rely on them can you and then if one of the forwards goes you've got to replace them with probably two players not just one let's say if a childsome was to go who would you turn to in that sense I've seen a lot of links towards someone like Maxwell Cornyn he's got a relegation clause as a like for like that's a massive downgrade really isn't it it's been mentioned a bit over the last couple of days but he's another one nice footballer but he's giving you a bit of a challenge well exactly so again it's one of them where Brennan Johnson's been linked as well as he's from Nottingham Forest he's a very exciting player of course to replace for Charles and I think is a big step isn't it so that's why you've probably got to look at even if Calvin Leung was to go I think you'd be in a similar situation so you've got to be looking at two players to replace one of them can they recruit in the right way can they use this money in the right sort of fashion and I think that becomes obviously the next big test for Lampard and Thelwell isn't it to have this sort of strategy in place to have these right profiles of players ready as you say somebody who's going to give their all for the team etc etc have those right sort of profiles of players and then be able to actually acquire them as well it's going to be a tough sort of one you've got to have the confidence that they can see it we've got to have seen a lot of and rightly so people you'd say that people are more than justified in saying things like don't trust the club if we sell down to replace them with the Charles but you've got to it's a new regime I guess in terms of Thelwell and Lampard we've got to have the trust because we can't really do anything about it other than we have to build on this little bit of unity we managed to forge at the end of the season going forward people like Connor Gallagher's being mentioned being a fantastic sign for everyone but how much would he cost and all that but everyone could get someone like that just on moving forward obviously we're coming into well we're not yet but next season how do you think the club or the fans can continue what happened at the end of the season because it's so pivotal to what we did that I almost feel like we have to maintain that somehow and it won't be quite at the same level because I think a lot of people would just like I've got to do this because I've got to play me part we might be losing the club into the champions here but seeing the reaction and the way it affected the players and seeing the results do you feel like we have to do almost for the home games keep that coach welcome going even if it's on a smaller scale I suppose it's interesting isn't it I thought we saw it in a similar sense probably in a smaller sense but we saw it in a similar sense when we first introduced the sire just before Zeid cars that obviously became a regular thing because it did lift the crowd at that point but I feel like that kind of it's effect kind of waned a little bit just because everybody was expecting it in terms of coach welcomes I just don't think I think if you keep doing them even on a smaller scale I just think they kind of lose their they lose their effectiveness in a weird way so it's going to be really interesting to see obviously the club and where the fans go with this the addition of all the banners that are on display like flags and banners they're all fantastic they do have a major effect in sort of helping the atmosphere as well but I'm going to be intrigued to see where these fan groups and the club themselves kind of take this forward and I think at the heart of it is that just continued communication we saw some really good examples of it over the past few months between members of the club and the fan base just coming together and really improving the atmosphere of Goddison Park for those last few games so if they can continue that communication then I'm sure they'll come up with something because as you say it was vital wasn't it it was really really really important to see as well so fingers crossed that positivity can just be taken over If they can create something and it gets the atmosphere going then I think becomes a really difficult place that helps so we've got to do our part I think as well and continue but the interesting I like the blue smoke don't lash it on the pitch because it's an issue please have it with your lungs you're breathing it in do it once when it's turned up into the press room at Goddison and my face was just covered in blue the lads in there were going no no no it does help so what do you think for this season I know it's very early and I'm putting it on the spot a little bit but what do you think for the upcoming season I don't want to say success because they're in success but what is like an acceptable kind of season right now whenever I haven't signed any players or whatever what should we be looking for next season I think just stay away from a relegation fight for a start is just the absolute bare minimum I would suggest a bit of structure maybe in the scenes you just want to see a certain sense of direction through all levels of the club I suppose the academy coming through with the first team you just want to see not necessarily just one style of play that they're going to play all the time but sort of an underlying philosophy and you understand what Lampard and Thelwell are trying to build they never seem to panic and change the minds and stuff like that just stick with a long term plan we can see the start of a long term plan and as long as you see that sort of incremental improvement over the course of this season I'm not expecting any sort of European fights or winning trophies or anything like that I'm not really expecting anything like that as long as you see that sort of improvement with that underlying level of this is the philosophy that we're clearly going for here then obviously you've just got to try and build yourself up back in that way haven't you because we're starting on such a low base this summer that you've just got to bring that base up a little bit more and I think that's probably realistic to be looking at just sort of mid table it's not exciting in any sort of way to say mid table I think I would take it at this point and I mean this has been said all before signings and what have you and you don't know what everybody else in the league is going to do I suppose but I would just say as long as we just see that slight improvement then I'd be happy personally I agree I think we need almost a ladder to climb you can see where it's going because for too long it's been like I'll go off the Europe and it doesn't quite work and then there's mixed messages everywhere I think we do need going up the ground in two years and all that we've got to need to plot a path towards that and hopefully the fans will be willing and then we can stay a bit lampard and get behind them and hopefully we can see a little bit of progression because that's all we want really that's all we want Adam, big thanks for coming in check out the most the help, the correspondent they go why wouldn't you? give the video a thumbs up, subscribe if you haven't and if you want more videos join us on Python the link is in the description we'll see you later