EXCLUSIVE: Everton legend Graeme Sharp assesses the current squad and explains his return to the club as he previews the Blues’ pre-season friendly against Newcastle United in Edinburgh
Everton legend Graeme Sharp believes fans can go into next season with “hope” despite ending the current campaign “poorly” as he lifts the lid on his own return to the club.
Sharp, whose 160 goals for the Blues are second only to all-time leading scorer Dixie Dean (383), won a brace of League Championships with the club and played in their victories in the 1984 FA Cup final and 1985 European Cup-Winners’ Cup final, netting in the former.
Speaking to preview Everton’s high-profile friendly against Premier League rivals Newcastle United at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium on Wednesday August 12 (5.15pm kick-off), the 65-year-old told the ECHO: “The stadium is absolutely fantastic. Okay, I was from Glasgow but when I was growing up in Scotland, coming through to Edinburgh, the one thing you always passed on the way in was Murrayfield.
“I’ve watched the rugby here and there have been a couple of other football games as well like when Celtic couldn’t play a European game at Parkhead and they used it. It’s an iconic stadium and just being in here today, I can’t believe how big it is, it’s massive.
“Hopefully a big crowd comes up, it will be a good atmosphere and hopefully an Everton win.
“Fingers crossed the weather will be good. It’s the Edinburgh Fringe as well so the city will be buzzing and really busy.
“We’ve got a few fan clubs up here, so it’s also an ideal opportunity for the Scotland-based Evertonians to watch Everton against Premier League opposition without having to travel that far.”
Everton were just three points off a Champions League place following their 3-0 win over Chelsea on March 21 but after failing to win any of their subsequent seven matches, they slumped to finish 13th in the table, the same position as the previous season and just one point better off.
Although Sharp admits it was a disappointing finish, he’s still optimistic going forwards under fellow Glaswegian David Moyes.
He said: “I thought we started slowly which I expected as it usually happens when teams move into a new stadium, they have to adapt. But then it got better and I thought during the game against Chelsea, the atmosphere that night was probably the best it’s been.
“Obviously, the season tailed off a little bit unfortunately. I thought they were in for a place in Europe, but it was just too much for us.
“However, I think we should go into the new season full of hope. I think David has done a good job.
“If you look at the circumstances he faced when he came in and the couple of seasons we’d had before then it was a bit of a rocky ship and he steadied that. We ended the season poorly which denied us that European opportunity, but overall I think he’s done well.
“Around six weeks before the end of the season, everyone was thinking of European competition as we were up there but unfortunately, and we can blame injuries and other things but unfortunately, we fell short. I think David will study the season, look at the areas that need improving and I’m sure he’ll do his best to do that.”
Everton are currently working on a deal to try and bring Championship Player of the Season Hayden Hackney in from Middlesbrough and Sharp, who had managerial spells himself at Oldham Athletic and Bangor City knows just how helpful it can be to get new faces through the door early in the summer.
When it comes to reshaping the squad, the former centre-forward reckons there is one area that intrigues him though.
He said: “You want your squad assembled so you know this is the squad you’re working with, and you can go through things. The quicker they get things done, the better.
“Supporters will have their say and they think certain areas of the team need to be strengthened and I think David and his coaches will know that. I’m sure they’ll be working hard to address that.
“If you look at it over the season, I think our issue has been scoring goals regularly. I think he’ll be looking to change that and try to fix that problem.
“I think we’re also a little bit light in certain positions in terms of cover, so he’ll be looking to remedy that as well. Listen, for what he had at his disposal, with David you know he’ll always make his teams hard to beat.
“He did that, and in the main, they were powerful and strong defensively. With James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, Jarrad Branthwaite and Jake O’Brien, you’ve got four defenders there you can work with.
“I think it will be interesting to see what he’ll do up front and whether he looks to add more competition there.”
Sharp admits he’s been blown away by Hill Dickinson Stadium since Everton’s move to the Mersey waterfront from Goodison Park last summer and insists he’s far from alone in that respect.
He said: “Compared to Goodison, there’s no question, it’s a massive improvement. The stadium is fantastic.
“Like all new stadiums, when you move in there are going to be teething problems. People are going to say this or that isn’t good enough, but we expected that.
“There are always going to be questions from the fans, no matter what the issue is, from whether the pies are too expensive or the beer is too expensive or whatever. But the new stadium itself, I think everybody I have spoken to who has been there, has been wowed by it.
“A couple of weeks ago when the season finished, I was able to walk on the pitch for the first time with my grandson having been watching from the stands every week. To be down on the pitch, ‘wow’ what a pleasure it must be play there and coming out every home game to that atmosphere that the fans have managed to create.”
With the change of ownership at Everton following The Friedkin Group’s takeover, Sharp is now delighted to be back in the fold at the club he first joined in 1980.
In the wake of fan protests against previous owner Farhad Moshiri and the board, the former non-executive director stayed away from matches for a couple of years before his return for Goodison Park’s penultimate fixture when Everton faced Ipswich Town on May 3 last year, paving the way for his attendance alongside many other former players at the farewell against Southampton a fortnight later.
Sharp reveals it was requests from his loved ones that convinced him to return and asked if it was a difficult time for him, he said: “It was. It was only because of my family that I probably went back.
“My family were urging me, my son and my daughter. I’ve also got two grandkids aged six and five, I didn’t have too much to say against them.
“Obviously, taking them to the games, it’s quite lively. One way or another, I’m enjoying it.
“Listen, it’s great to be back and in the new stadium, working alongside some guys I’ve known a long, long time, bumping into them and ex-players as well.
“Hopefully this is a new chapter, not just for myself, but also for the football club and fingers crossed next season will be a successful one.”
- See Premier League rivals Everton and Newcastle United clash at Edinburgh’s iconic Scottish Gas Murrayfield on August 12. Tickets available now at Ticketmaster.
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