Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Reflects on Everton's Deadline-Day Drama

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall knows all about deadline-day drama. He lived it from the inside at Everton – and it left him running through the same emotional rollercoaster as the fans, only for very different reasons.

Excitement. Then confusion. Then, as the window slammed shut with David Moyes holding fewer players than he started with, exasperation.

One striker. No natural cover at either full-back. A squad trimmed when it was supposed to be strengthened. And, at the centre of the chaos, a £40m deal for Folarin Balogun collapsing at the last moment as the US international walked away minutes after a deal sheet had gone in.

Outside the training ground, Evertonians were left asking what on earth The Friedkin Group were playing at. Inside it, the mood is not what people think.

“We’ll show everyone”

“How, now, is the mood in the squad?” is the obvious question after a window like that. Dewsbury-Hall doesn’t hesitate.

“Really good to be honest,” he says. “Definitely not the same mood as what I’ve seen on the outside. There’s a good mentality this year of: ‘We’ll show everyone.’”

The performances so far back him up. Everton have looked organised, aggressive, and far from a side supposedly braced for a relegation scrap.

Dewsbury-Hall has seen the social media storms and the radio phone-ins. He has not enjoyed them.

“I’ve seen all of the reactions, all of the meltdowns, and in all honesty it annoyed me a bit,” he says, blunt and clear. “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.”

Moyes’ warning, Dewsbury-Hall’s response

Moyes has already voiced his concern about what Everton’s transfer business – or lack of it – might signal to his players at a time when he is trying to drive the team forward.

Has it hurt the dressing room?

“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.”

He will be central to that. Since his £28m move from Chelsea last summer, Dewsbury-Hall has grown into one of Moyes’ key men, his decision to walk away from Stamford Bridge finally paying off.

“I’m in the prime years of my career,” he says. “I couldn’t afford to spend more years stagnating.”

On the pitch, he has become a metronome. Off it, he has stepped into a leadership role that did not exist for him a year ago.

Filling the Séamus Coleman void

Séamus Coleman’s departure ripped out a piece of Everton’s identity. To plug that gap, the club have built a new leadership group. Dewsbury-Hall is in 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.”

That influence stretches to the next generation.

Protecting Harrison Armstrong

Harrison Armstrong’s future looked set to lie away from Goodison Park as deadline day loomed. The 19-year-old midfielder was close to joining Nottingham Forest – until Everton’s travelling support at Bournemouth made their fury impossible to ignore.

Their anger forced a U-turn from the owners. Armstrong stayed.

“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.”

Dewsbury-Hall has taken him under his wing, with a smile and a jab.

“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 [on the opening day] or the Wolves goal last season. We have good banter.”

The teasing masks a serious point: Everton cannot afford to waste what they already have. With a thin squad, the development of players like Armstrong is no longer a luxury. It is essential.

Europe, cups and England

Dewsbury-Hall is not shy about what he wants from this season. European qualification. A deep cup run. A better version of himself. And, at last, an England call-up.

He knows the England manager, Thomas Tuchel, is watching.

“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 trimmed squad, a restless fanbase and questions swirling over the club’s direction under new ownership.

Dewsbury-Hall, though, is clear. The window is shut. The noise is outside. Inside, the message is simple: look around the dressing room, trust the “top players” he sees, and go and prove everyone wrong.