 Hello everyone and welcome to the very first Everton show of a brand new season from, as you can see, a brand new studio here at Gullison Park. It's already been a terrific summer hasn't it for Everton so far on and off the pitch we've got a plethora of new signings, exciting signings at that and we've brought new ground with our visit to Tanzania in July. Joining me for the first show of the campaign is one of our regulars, The Diamond, welcome back Graham. And a new signing of our owner, I'm sure it'll be a good one, Alan Irvine. I'm very welcome to you Alan for your first Everton show. I've just mentioned there about the new signings and they are quality players but as a former manager and coach yourself you know that it's timing as well isn't it. You have to get the players in at the right time, if you can. Yeah ideally the sooner the better. I think every manager would want to start with his new squad on the very first day of pre-season. That's almost impossible to do but the more players you can have in as early as possible in pre-season the better. Clearly pre-season is a time when the games are games that you can try things in and it gives you that opportunity to work with different shapes, with different systems, with different styles of play and gives new players the chance to kind of bed in before it comes to the really important part of the actual season and the competitive games. It doesn't happen overnight Graham as you know but the signs are there already aren't they? Yeah they're there. As Alan mentioned they're vitally important in my opinion to get the players in as early as possible for exactly the reasons Alan's already touched on but they feel a level of comfort as well. They've got a brand new dressing room to walk into so if they've got three or four weeks before the business end of it comes into play it's better for them, helps them settle down and I'm sure we'll get the benefits in the next few weeks. As Diamond will confirm the new boys seem to be good lads as well and you know as well as anybody at this football club we do like to get the right character as well as the right footballer. Vitally important anywhere I think even more important at a club like this where the culture is one of hard work, of teamwork, of people making sure that they pull together, of making sure that there's a real honesty about the way that everybody goes about their jobs and if you have the wrong characters then those kind of things break down and it's always been important at this club and hopefully will always be important and so I think that when Ronald was looking to bring in new players one of the biggest things he would have had to delve into would have been the mentality and the character of the players that he was bringing. One of those big characters of course is Wayne Rooney. We've got an exclusive interview with Wayne from Finch Farm coming up very shortly but as I mentioned at the top of the programme Everton Football Club broke new ground in the summer when we became the first Premier League side to visit Tanzania. Here's a quick roundup of just how we got on. Rooney has a little look up, goes for gold, is back. 34 minutes into his new Everton career. Wayne Rooney finds the back of the net. Remember the name. No one's forgotten it there. From Davis. Everton deserve a winning goal. Good turn by Kieran Dow. Is it going to come from Kieran Dow? Is it just? What a fantastic goal. He hit the crossbar a few moments ago. He got it absolutely spot on with his left foot on that occasion and if that's the winner it deserves it. It was a fantastic trip wasn't it? A very quick trip but a wonderful experience. It was. I mean I've never been out to Tanzania before so you know for all of us as a group of people to go out and represent Everton Football Club was groundbreaking really and all the lads you know they mixed in really well. They got into the spirit of everything that was put on from us. It was a magnificent welcome from all the Tanzanian people but most important of all there was a job to do and that's to play a game against Gorma here. We won it 2-1 and our big new stellar signing of the season opened his account with a fantastic goal didn't he? Pure Wayne Rurie that wasn't it? Yeah Wayne has been a special player since he was a kid. I was fortunate enough to be here at the time when he broke through. But I remember him going back beyond that when he was actually playing for I think it would have been the under 17 team but he was about 14 years old at the time. I was in charge of Newcastle at that particular time and Peter Rammage was playing centre half and Wayne gave him a really hard time. We had a good side at that time at Newcastle and Wayne made his actually have to probably work harder for a good result than anybody else had done all the way through. For a lad to come straight out of school which is what he did when I was here with David and walked straight into first team training and not be out of place was just something that doesn't happen. He was an exceptional talent and he was a man way before his time. The big thing that I always wondered about with Wayne was would he still be breaking records when he was 26 and yeah he was still breaking records when he was 26. So he's had a fantastic career and I think he's done extremely well to manage the pressures that he's been under all the way through from being a young player. Alan you mentioned knowing him as a young player growing up. Did you yourself and David have to think about the impact it would have on the senior players you were going to have to leave out to accommodate this young man bursting onto the scene? Well you would think that that might be a problem but he was so good in terms of the way that he came into the training environment and then the way that he fitted in when he started to make his first appearances that none of the senior players would have complained about him being in the team. They just accepted him as another really good player in our squad and at the beginning he wasn't ready to play week in and week out but he was certainly ready to make an impact and he very quickly became an extremely important player. And you know nobody cares within a football squad about the age of a player or where he comes from or what his beliefs are if he's a really good player everybody just accepts that he's a really good player and they want him in the team. And Wayne was good enough to be in the team as simple as that. And he's still a classic. And we're all delighted to have Wayne Rooney back. The boy himself he sat down with the Everton show earlier this week at Finch Farm. Yeah it's been good. I really enjoyed it. Some good games for us during the pre-season. Obviously the two competitive ones in the rope league but thankfully we're through it now to the next knockout stage but I think the game to training is obviously what we've needed. It's gone well and we're ready now for the first game of the season. Have you sensed what it's meant to Evertonians you coming back to the club? Have you felt kind of how special it is for them? Yeah the Everton fans have been brilliant. The reception they've given me. Especially obviously the games of Goddison has been fantastic and it's great obviously for me to go back there to Goddison and play in front of the home fans. Obviously the whole stadium hasn't been open yet so I'm sure the atmosphere on Saturday will be great and just looking forward to it. We know we've got a tough start in terms of the fixtures we've been given to the start of the season so Saturday is an important game, a game which will get us off to a great start with three points. What's it been like for your family and friends seeing you back in Everton shirt? Yeah they're all made up I think. Everyone obviously supported me when I went to United but now they can support me on the team so I think everyone's delighted. I've come back but again I've come back for reasons to try and win things with Everton and not for how people feel and whether they're happy I've come back or not I've come to try and win. I think it was great for Everton fans when you came back that obviously you've been so successful at Manchester United but it showed that you still have a deep love for the club and it goes to show just what this club has meant to you throughout your life basically. Yes it was a baby all through my life growing up obviously I was an Everton fan and that's not changed I think obviously in football now it is more like a job and sometimes you move on to different things which I've done but in terms of a fan you know I've always wanted to do well always being a fan of Everton football club and that's never changed so obviously wanted the opportunity to come back here I was delighted. Plenty more to come from that exclusive interview with Wayne Rooney in part two. We're going to take a short break right now when we come back we'll hear from Michael Keane, bit more from Wayne as I say and also from Davy Class. Welcome back to part two of the first Everton show of a brand new season and that brand new season kicks off on Saturday afternoon of course Stoke City at Goodison Park all first games are tough games and especially when it's against the likes of Stoke City. Yeah yeah you're never quite sure how the first game or two are going to go there's no form for anybody to assess the game on it's difficult as well when you're preparing to play against Stoke to know exactly what team they're likely to put out because they'll have tried things during the preseason just like Everton will have done but it's not a bad game the games that I never wanted as the opening game of the season was a newly promoted team away from home that was always extremely difficult Stoker and Establish team there isn't that real excitement that burst of adrenaline that a new club coming up would get so I think it's a good opening game. I think being at home is again good I was always happy to have the first game at home it will be difficult there's no question about it Stoke will be a good side I would expect them to be a mid table side top half maybe but it's a type of game that Everton I've got to get off to a good starting. Well Goodison Park will be ready we are assured I'm sure you can hear and see a little bit of the construction work that's still going on at Goodison Park but when this place is packed on the opening day of the new season surely the sun will be shining from some atmosphere. Well the sun normally shines doesn't it opening day of the season much of the players disgust to be honest with you when it's 25 degrees and what have you but no it's going to be a magnificent atmosphere here when everything's ready it always is at Goodison Park there's an expectancy about the place that players you have to deal with it it's as simple as that you cross that white line at three o'clock you've done all your preparation in preseason with a view to making sure at three o'clock you're at your optimum to go out start the game well it's always vitally important especially here at Goodison Park to get the crowd on your side in that opening ten minutes get some crosses in get some shots on target if we can work the goalkeeper get the crowd up and expect and I think that's half the battle here. We obviously haven't got a clue what team Ronald Cooman will pick on Saturday afternoon but it's a fairly safe bet that Michael Keane will be in it and the big defender is looking forward to his Goodison Park Premier League debut. Is it hard on an opening day to know exactly what to expect from opposition teams? Yeah I think it is yeah like you say with new signings coming in new systems that teams will play in preseason you don't know which one they're going to play so you sort of just got to do as much preparation as you can but also wait till you see the team see how they line up on the pitch and you prepare as well as you can but obviously the first week is a bit more difficult than the others really. At Burnley it was always playing in a straight four with a banker four in front of you so the fact that they've already played in a four in a three or five whatever you want to call it there's different styles of playing and it's just getting used to them and being able to switch from one to the other whenever you please so I feel like I've done it well so far but obviously they're still improving to be done. Michael Keane really has hit the ground running at Everton Football Club and we always thought he was a class act on him. Very good player remember him from being a young player at Manchester United saw a lot of him when he was at Burnley in the championship and I think he's developed really really well in the last couple of years and I think he will step on again coming here I think he could turn out to be a fantastic signing for a very long time for Everton. Will you look at the spine of a side Alan you know yourself you want a nice strong spine how important do you think it is for us to have bought in and out and out number one goalkeeper in Jordan Pickford. Well again a player that I've known from being a young player I was with the England under 17 team when Jordan was in that and he looked a good young goalkeeper then I saw a lot of him when he was at Preston and he was outstanding for Preston and they were desperate to kind of keep him longer than they were able to keep him. He went back to Sunderland and got in the team did extremely well and he's he's been making very quick progress bearing in mind goalkeepers quite often come later. I think again a fantastic sign and I think those two are really important players for Everton this season. Jordan Pickford could be here a long long time Alan couldn't he and of course you played with the great Neville Southall. Yes yeah no if he gets anywhere near Neff then he's going to be an outstanding goalkeeper that's for sure because Neff's probably the best that I've played with or worked with but Jordan Pickford's got a lot of potential and as you say could be here for a very very long time. Well Michael Keane will probably be in the side so probably will Jordan Pickford and we would imagine that Wayne Rooney will also play. Let's hear a little bit more from him. The manager and a lot of your teammates when you sign said about the responsibility you can have the influence. Do you feel that amongst the squad that they can look at you with everything you've won in the game? Yeah you feel it but obviously I have to concentrate on playing and training and of course there's things where you can help especially the younger players with. There's little things you can do to help them but I have to just keep doing what I can do best in training and hopefully that will help me in the games and try and set a good example for the other players. I see off the pitch as well. You've been all around yourself. See some magic tricks you like doing that with? Yeah no I've been doing a few tricks and it's rarely just obviously past time and it's good obviously to play a few tricks on a few lads and there's some who've got them and some are still a bit messed up by them so hopefully that will continue. You feel a bit like a dynamite the minute when you're back? No I think obviously it's just past time really and especially on the flights if you can't sleep through a bit to pass a bit of time. Finally just on to Stoke. How important is it to get off to a good start of all the tough fixtures following as well? Yeah it is important to think you know it's going to be a tough game. Stoke will never easy game and you know we're prepared and for that we'll be ready come Saturday for that game and again when you start the season with a win it gives the squad that extra bit of confidence. That was Wayne Rooney there speaking to the Everton show down at Finchforn. Now we've got a new feature for you for this new season. We simply call it my first and rather than go through the wise and wherefores and explain the rules let's hear from Davie Klassen. It wasn't my dad he was the keeper of the first team and then I went to watch a game with my mom and then he saved the penalty and I thought okay this man is the best keeper in the world and that's the first thing yeah first memory of football I think. It was my dad it was when I was I think four or five and I went to Ajax it was I guess what you now sit at five now I think it was a night game and yeah I thought okay this stadium is so big and we were just on top on the second ring and it was awesome. I'd like to watch Burkham, Denmark's Burkham and I also played a shadow striker when I was young and he was at the same position and when I was young he was playing for Arsenal and then Saturday I watched the Premier League and then I always saw him doing the magical things and I really like that. Yeah it was my first league game in Holland and I came in and I scored after I think 42 seconds and yeah I think that was one of the best feelings of my life. We never had that, we had one goldfish, a goldfish yeah but it didn't live very long. He likes to laugh Davie Klassen and he's settled in well on and off the pitch. Yeah he seems to have yeah really settled in nicely you know sitting on the plane for nine and a half hours to Tanzania etc. The interaction you can see between the players and Davie was in the forefront of that so clearly he's settled down very very well. What have we got you on the Everton show Alan what you up to these days? I'm playing a lot of golf and a lot of tennis at this particular moment but I'm just. You're looking to get back into the game? Yeah yeah as a manager I've had three offers of jobs but not as a manager and I'm just going to wait for the moment and just see if something that I fancy comes up and in the meantime try and improve my second serve and my golf handicap which need a bit of work I have to say. We finished seventh last season based on the players that we've talked about coming into the football club what do you think represents a successful season for us this year? I think it's extremely difficult nowadays when when David and I were here there was a big four Manchester United Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal. Tottenham in Man City I'm now added to that and I'm talking about a big four in terms of wealth. Obviously Everton have spent good money this year and you know I hope that the players that have been bought who I think are good signings but it's just whether they all gel and whether it all works or not. I think it will be extremely difficult to break into the top four. I would expect Everton to certainly be having a go for that but it will be a very very interesting season and some of some of the clubs who think that they should be in that top four are going to find themselves out of it. It will be an interesting season. It all starts on Saturday and we can't wait for it to begin and that just about wraps up our first Everton show of the 2017-18 campaign. My thanks as always to the diamond we'll see him again in a couple of weeks and thanks very much to Alan Irvine we'll have him back on that for sure before the season is out. Thanks for joining us this week please do join us in seven days time for the second Everton show of the new season.