 Welcome to Toffy TV, joined by John Blane, and we are going to talk about Carlo Ancelotti, who's had his first press conference as Everton manager today. We were there, it was exciting, it was very interesting to see the interest of a lot of people who wouldn't normally have turned up to Everton press conferences. Your initial thoughts on the man that you've seen in the flesh today? He was cool wasn't he? He was relaxed, not rabbit in the headlights like we've seen from some managers, our managers, and I think Peds said afterwards that when he got a non straight forward question, almost like a journalist trying to catch him out, he just sat there, shrugged a little bit, thought about what he wanted to say and then said it. So I thought it was really cool, and as you say, people will have seen it on Sky or on the Everton website, YouTube channel, whatever it might be, what they won't have seen is how big the audience was, all the cameras that were there and the like, which is clearly just his name brings out journalistic interest. Definitely, we've come in here today after it and people know we share a studio with the red men and they were all like, I didn't believe you were going to get him when I've seen this one, I can't believe you've got him, what an appointment. They're all a little bit taking it back slightly and we heard that from a one-journalist in particular from the BBC who seemed quite shocked that Carlo Ancelotti was the Everton manager. Why was he coming here? Because as far as he was concerned, the top six were shut, you know, a closed door, but in terms of Ancelotti, it just stopped. That guy, right, the guy from the BBC. If you do the whole full version, he was asking questions around, which if you like, the believers wouldn't ask, which is why you're here. He said, you know, he almost did it. Everything but are you just here for the money? But I don't think the material thing he said will age particularly well because if I remember correctly and we've come straight here at a time we'll tell when we see it back. He was basically literally saying, the period of time you're here, you'll never break into the top six. That's four and a half years. So he's saying four and a half years starting now, there's no chance that this football club will be in the top six. Well, the audience, your viewers can see whether they believe that or not. But the top six he listed didn't include Leicester. No, it was second. So they clearly cannot get in the top six either, but they're already in it. They're already in it. And yeah, so that was an interesting one. And, you know, again, most Evertonians will do this. The media have always treated us reasonably dismissively. Some of that might be our own fault. But in the round, particularly those sky related ones, it's all about the big four, then it was the big six, and then should it be the big seven, which would have been us? Maybe it's now the big seven with Leicester temporarily and so on. But this man isn't going to settle for that. He's not going to spend four and a half years at this football club. Seventh at best. No. It's just not going to happen. No. And just look at him. You know, he knows. He knows. He knows. He said nothing's impossible. Yeah, and he quotes a PSG. So, you know, just before we go back to the actual press conference, I just wanted to shut myself and Peter talked about this. Do you think this is the appointment machine he had in mind when he took over and said, we want a Hollywood manager? Because I think a lot of people just took it as a name. I just want a name, a big name. But do you think he meant a well-class manager when he, and that was the vision he had in his mind for Everton? Yes. I suppose. I mean, you know, I listened to him, you know, this close sort of justifying silver. But didn't seem like first pick, did it? You know? And maybe we wanted him realistically before he went to Napoli. And I don't know. There's maybe some suspicion somewhere we were talking to him. That's why he got the sack at Napoli. But we've got him now and that's all that matters. And when the announcement came out, the length of the contract, I was quite surprised. Because it's quite long in present-day terms for managers to get that long is unusual. And that's a measure of his stature, I suppose. But it's also a measure of if he's not just here for the money and we are in trouble if he is, then four and a half years is a big payoff. So it might be more cost-effective to give him the money he wants for transfers than it will to buy him off, so to speak. So time will tell, but nothing today. And he got some awkward questions, particularly from the BBC guy. The way he answered them wasn't just going through the motions. I know it's day one and stuff, but even so he's an impressive character. Yeah, I mean, I thought there was a sense of calmness. Totally. When he walked in the room, there was a... Well, we're just saying that. Before Billy Press Play, or record rather, that the way you've got a room full of hard-nosed journalist types who are all got their laptops open, writing stuff, tweeting, and God knows what else, you've got the BBC man getting his awkward questions right, ready. Vinnie's got the microphone ready. And then the body language in the hosts, the Everton people, was clearly he's about to come in. And the whole room just went bump, like really quiet, almost respectfully quiet, waiting for him to come in. And that was cool. And then he came in with Marcel and Denise and Andy and did it. Well, when you look at managers out there, Everton have been linked with a number of people over the last few weeks. Some will be agents pushing their man into the news, which we know. And getting extra contracts. There's an emoji for that. Yeah, getting extra contracts, better contracts, and names will have been bandied about. Everton probably have spoke to quite a few people, even just as would you be interested in your outlines, which is exactly what you should do. You do diligence, of course you should. We know that according to sources in Italy, whether you believe them or not, that he was interested in the Everton job before, Napoli had shot them because I think he knew. He knew he was going on. He knew Napoli were going to get rid of them. There was a disagreement. Sky Italia sent them in. Exactly the big Sky Italia man, Alex was there. But out of the, it's kind of warped off criticism. There's been a media thing over the weekend from ex-footballers and other people saying that it's the wrong appointment forever. Why are they going for airmen, blah, blah, blah. But when you look at the other people who were up for it allegedly, or whoever it could have gone, he's by far the most qualified, by far the highest profile, by far the best. And what you do, you go out and you get the best manager available. You were in here a few weeks ago when Marco was struggling and we were saying, maybe it's time now to pull a plug. Even earlier in the season when we were actually defending them, we'll watch it. I remember me and you having a conversation saying, well, if he's not the right man today. You could win five in a row, he's still the wrong man. He's still not the right man. And you get the best manager available. That's what everything have gone and done, haven't you? So what's the argument to what else we could have done if it wasn't him? It's funny, isn't it? Because you take social media platforms like Twitter. It's an echo chamber, isn't it? So someone says something. If that gets some traction, it gets repeated. And so what got traction was, why the hell would a guy this good go to a club that bad? And then, because they can't get the head round it, because there's a bit of denial, well it must be money then, so they're paying too much money. And so that becomes the agenda. I don't think it's necessarily Machiavellian and they're doing it deliberately, but if a journalist writes, that's not going to happen. You've never seen it. That's not going to happen. You know, you said they couldn't foresee it happening. So they've gone to bed last night thinking, oh yes, it's not going to happen. Just like the stadium's not going to happen, reds it is. All that sort of stuff. And then it becomes a repeating thing. And I noticed over the weekend that a couple of my mates had said, I don't get this. We're linked with Ancelotti and it's a bad thing. I was another link with Othetta and that's a good thing. And surely it should be the other way around. And the agenda, if you want to call it an agenda, seemed to change over the weekend to journalists debating how big a risk the thing was for Arsenal and how less a risk it was clearly for Everton. And then even those hanging on to this plucky little Everton story were thinking, well actually even they changed. It was more about him. Can he prove, I'd say if he needs to prove anything, can he prove he can still do it? We were joking. I was about my analogy of he's proved to be a great interior designer. Can he now prove he can still build a house? And he referenced it today where he's gone to projects like PSG. He talked about that, didn't he? That's what excited him and it's one of the reasons he's come here. But earlier in his career he won't have had big club always in the Champions League, Galactico's type stuff. He earned the right to have those big jobs. People talk about whether it's a Pep Guardiola or whether it's a Marino and they're probably the two at his stature. No one else. They can only do big jobs with big money and stuff. No, they've earned that right. And he's earned the right to have those so-called big jobs and now probably because he's had most of them. He's gone back to his roots almost of can I do it and bring a club on and make a big difference. And you and I, probably not on your show, but we talked about Marino being the example, didn't we? We could have, perhaps should have, but we're happy now, sold to Marino, proved he can still do it, proved he can do Porto again. And he's sort of done that with Tottenham, but from a higher base. And this man talked today about the stadium and so on. And maybe that's part of the, if we've sold him the stadium, it's a big project, the owner's still going to spend money, all that good stuff, then why wouldn't he want to contract? That means he's still here when we go into the stadium. And maybe that's part of what has driven the four and a half years. Well, I think it's the ambition, isn't it? If you go to someone like him, let's be honest, five years ago wouldn't have looked at everything. He'd have looked and gone, no, eight, nine, 11th. No, right, no matter how much money you've got. You go to him now. He's obviously come down a level, you know, cos like you said, he's been at a lot of big clubs. But you go to him and go, well, we'll pay you big money. We'll spend big money for you to get the job, you know, to do the job. And look at what we're moving through. We've got this brand new stadium on the waterfront. We are ambitious. We want to be at the top of the league. Why wouldn't he? He's been there and done it. So it's a different challenge. You look and you go, well, yeah, you know, I've won three Champions Leagues and I've done this. It's greatest achievement yet could actually be getting evident into the Champions League because it is difficult in this country to break in and can he win evidently trophy after 25 years? Can he break the top four? Can he create this fast-flowing team that is at least in the conversation at the right end of the table? That's a challenge, but you know what? We tried other routes, haven't we? And it hasn't worked. Well, the owners talk today, hasn't they? He's not necessarily talking to a platform I talk to. But he's talked about, if we distill it down, this is too big a job for young manager coaches to learn their craft. It's like that's the light that's gone on in Bashiri's head. I can't recruit the next big thing because actually having this like silver, having this job could mean they never become the next big thing because it's a too big a leap. So you've got the demands and the challenges of the very biggest jobs, not in the very biggest job. So you've got all the downside of expectation, the fan base being what it is and all that stuff without the comforts of half a dozen world-class players in your team and you're not going to lose three in a row and what have you, what have you. I mean, if he allegedly has come off his peak, hence my comments about his best days are behind him, but Cracky, if his best days are in front of him, what a rollercoaster, what a ride it's going to be. When he went to Napoli, I suppose, they weren't a knot, the top dog in that league and he's previously managed the clubs who are the top dog in their league. Milan, UVay, yeah. Milan, UVay, if you're talking about Italy and you've got Bayern Munich, PSG, and Madrid and whatever you are, what have you. So I think he was sensitive to that in his interview, which was all, and he did it really cool, it was just like, don't disrespect me, I've done it before and I can do it again. And then of course he brought up the other shower and we've got them in the first week in January and I like Mr Klopp and I've got a good record against them. So that way, Cracky, can you imagine? If that magic trick gets pulled off, you know, overnight legend sort of thing, but then the joke we were making, the fan base being what it is, we lose at 1-0 at home to Burnley, what happens then, sort of thing. So it's going to be entertaining, exciting if nothing else. I think, I mean, me and Pat have often said this. By the way, I'd take a 1-0 defeat at home to Burnley if we then went to Anfield and won. Yes you would. Let's get this rain off to a good one. No, you have to start with the win. I want league points at the moment. But me and Pat have said recently, I think you've agreed as well with having someone who can carry the club on the shoulders almost. I think that's what we need more than anything at the minute and I think, you know, I still maintain that Marco Silva is probably a good coach. Man it yet, we don't know. In this country it might just be too intense, he might just be too young at the moment, he might, you know, whatever. But the likes of him, the likes of Coom and the likes of Martinis, I'm not sure could carry the club on their shoulders at the moment. And certainly with, even take Martinis out cos he didn't really work under Mishiri, but we've gone to a new structure, we've got a director of football, we've tried that model with Welsh and we've replaced him with Marcel Brands. And unfortunately with the last manager, it almost felt like Brands was bigger than Silva and so a lot of the focus was on him and it shouldn't have really been theoretically, it should be your manager who's the face of your club and I think because of his name and because of what he's done, that should allow Marcel Brands to almost go back into the background and get on with, get on with doing what he's trying to do while we've got someone respect who people will go on. What I mean by that is with the fans as well I'm talking about because me and Pedd were talking before and it's easy to disrespect Marco Silva. Loads of fans, loads of Everton fans didn't want him. It's easy to go, what qualified him to get this job? To hold on, drop off it, got shocked, why did he get the Everton job? Martinis I couldn't believe we give Roberto Martinis the job, his team had just been relegated. Forget the FA Cup, this team had just been relegated and he got the job and cumin had a couple of what, six places or something. So fans, over all those managers could level things at them like what gives him the right to have that job because each year we don't win a trophy. Your honeymoon period gets shorter because people are like a coil spring but I think it's difficult even for the most critical fan to start questioning him. Certainly in the short term because he's won everything. So he's quite clearly a good manager, he's got experience, he's even, you can't even say he's never done it over here. He won a double the Chelsea in his first season and come runners-up in his second season and that wasn't good enough for them. They shocked him, finished in second. He'd have no hands left if he finished second with us wouldn't he be able to bite them off. Do you think that because of who he is and that's that, he can almost carry the club forward on his shoulders without receiving the criticism? What I mean is, will he get more time? He could carry it but not for very long. I think the weight of expectation weighs heavily on anybody. I think most people would have thought that Cuman was a dower, robust character and at the end he didn't know what to do and he knew he didn't know what to do. He knew he was in over his head and so on. But he never had done what this felon did. Of course but everything he's done is in the past. Impressed reset now. And as I'm fond of saying people don't fail, companies do. So I don't think our football club in days gone by have given the manager the support that he needed throughout. And it does become that, they have become that isolated figure who becomes the target for all the ills of the football club. So if everything in our football club was fully attuned to not just giving him money or players or whatever but making everything easy letting the fans know who he is knowing who the man is behind the manager all that sort of stuff. If all that was done and the club or the team was still failing then without guilt you can put a bullet between his eyes because you've said we've done everything that we could. So we should have a little personal view, we should have a little bit of guilt of what's happened to Silva a little bit of guilt of what's happened to Cuman and even a little bit of guilt of what happened to Martinez. And we can't afford to have a bit of guilt about this guy because fundamentally his track record and what he's done in the past means and you're talking about fans the players can't blame the manager you can't blame his tactics you can't blame who he chooses to pick and who he doesn't choose to pick you can't blame who he buys unless of course someone else goes off and buys players and says there you go use that one So again just as always the relationship between him and the director of football is key but if we go back a year or two they're about and then fast forward to now we would think would we not we currently as of today have probably one of the best two or three managers in this country which probably means not far off the world based on track record certainly he's the best manager in this city on track record and we believe we've got the best director of football and the owner as frequently said and looks like he's prepared to stand up to it not with standing people who go where's the money coming from that as long as these are around money wouldn't be a problem so very very good manager by track record very very good director of football by track record a owner who's prepared to invest by track record what could possibly go wrong? New stadium on the way New stadium on the way so it could be really exciting but it needs to be done in a structured step-by-step sort of way people are already talking about who we're going to get in January but you've still got to buy to the plan I think getting a 35-year-old bloke who the whole world might know he's here if you're getting him just because of that that's okay which is a commercial marketing type thing but if you're going to acquire players you've got to sit down with Moise Keane speaking his native tongue tell him what's expected of him and turn that promise into a deliverable which I'm sure he will which I'm sure he will, yeah and I don't know what people think but I actually thought when he came on the last couple of games that some Italian speakers speaking to him I just did wonder whether it was some of his boys coming hiding in the backgrounds talking to him but yeah it's just really exciting and I think the key is that his appointment removes excuses I mean again I'm a big fan of differences between excuses and reasons, perhaps I don't want to bore the people with them now but we've had things passed off in the past as reasons which were really excuses and the stature of this man not just his track record but the way he's going to talk to people the way he's started today and so on and the fact that he's talked about Duncaners I've got to have a guy like that around when the previous manager wanted him to talk to the hand type stuff and Cuman did similar so those two guys didn't get it and he seems to have got it straight away Duncan's done a wonderful job over the last three or four games so you could hardly ignore it but I think there was more to it than that that he actually does believe that the structure the fabric to use the old marketing phrases we've used the DNA of the football club is all running through Duncan's blue blood and he can tap into that as well which is good stuff Excellent, and I think just as we're finishing that the one important thing you mentioned the players there those players standing in a circle listening to the manager it's respect immediately ahead on the way home from the match at the weekend Mason Holgate was talking he was interviewing Mason after the game and he was like the players are excited and can't wait to blame for him so he's won everything and it's instant respect because Mason said he's not going to have to learn our respect which I thought was a key usage of you know all the managers who've been under it they've kind of gone let's see what this is Who's this silver blue? Let's see what he's like Even though Cuman was a great player what can he coach let's see what he's about and I don't know whether the players all believed in what those two previous managers did you know what we're saying and ultimately we'll see whether they believe what he's saying but at least you can never turn on to him and go what have you won then because he's won everything and that's key and I think you know, cautiously optimistic because just because we've been banned You can't stop like Cuman and Evertonian can you? Well you know what it is John you know what it is it's just the fact that I failed and then silver and I failed it's just like when is it going to be alright for us but it's difficult to argue against this fella as being the right appointment it really isn't it it's everything I guess that we've needed we need a calm person who's been there, done it, knows how to win and can get respect from the players and today you've seen a level of respect from press people and people who've known them and people who've interviewed them before and said what a fantastic fella the years and what a fantastic manager the years but the calmness and the calm stress that's enough looking like he's in total control and today it was supposed to be his pre-mass press conference for the game of the week of course it's the weekend but you know for Burnley didn't ever go to it didn't ever go to it and he kept saying Burnley and making it sound like Barry which I thought was cool there you go let us know what you think in the comments section below on the day Carlo Ancelotti faced the press for the first time as Everton manager he was excited is he the best we could have got are you confident that he can provide and obtain in Everton's fortunes with Duncan Ferguson part of his backroom staff as he an assistant it was just what he said in his press conference big thanks to John Blaine for joining me make sure you subscribe give the video a thumbs up and if you want more videos join us on Patreon have a great Christmas see you later