Everton coach outlines major David Moyes change as honest verdict shared on new £27m transfer

Everton coach outlines major David Moyes change as honest verdict shared on new £27m transfer

EXCLUSIVE: ECHO Everton reporter Chris Beesley speaks to Blues assistant manager Billy McKinlay as he reflects on their USA tour

Everton assistant manager Billy McKinlay spoke exclusively to Chris Beesley about working under David Moyes on his first overseas trip with the club

Billy McKinlay insists everything he was told about what makes Everton special is true as he outlined how David Moyes has evolved, the gains from the USA trip, how Thierno Barry is settling in and transfer ambitions for the rest of the window. Unlike Moyes, who had a previous 11-year-tenure in charge at Goodison Park between 2002-13, McKinlay is getting used to his new surroundings.

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As a player, the 56-year-old started at Dundee United before heading south of the border to turn out for Blackburn Rovers, Bradford City, Preston North End (where he first worked with the current Everton manager), Leicester City and Fulham, with a spell back in Scotland at Clydebank in between.

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McKinlay though explains how Everton have lived up to the great expectations he was told about before joining the club. Sitting down at the team’s hotel in Atlanta for an exclusive interview, he told the ECHO: “Coming into Everton has been really good for me. I’d heard lots of stories with the gaffer being there first time and Alan as well. There are other people I know like Jimmy Lumsden and plenty of connections through people I work with, and they’ve all spoken in glowing terms about the club.

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“Having to come to Goodison as an opponent, was never a place I liked going to, for obvious reasons, especially as a coach. I probably didn’t have too great a record, especially with Fulham.

“There was always an admiration for the club from afar, but when I came in it was actually even more than I thought it was in terms of the aspects of it being a passionate club and the fanbase is terrific. Goodison is sensational and hopefully we can bring that to the new stadium and the team can give the supporters something to write home about, and we’re doing our best to try and do that.

“Everybody at the club has been terrific. It’s a really, really good club and everything that everybody told me about it is true.

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“It’s a proper club in terms of the people who work here and the supporters. That’s been evident since I walked through the door.”

Like Moyes and fellow assistant manager Irvine, McKinlay is a Glaswegian and he believes their backgrounds enable them to share the passion of Evertonians. He said: “I can absolutely relate to them. Duncan (Ferguson) used to talk to me all the time about it, and he’d say it was a special place and a special club.

“The manager obviously coined ‘The People’s Club’ phrase and rightly so. I think if you asked anyone up and down the country, they’d tell you the same thing, it’s a genuinely proper football club, in the old sense of the word and everybody works hard to make it like that.

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“It’s not manufactured in any way, shape or form. When you come in here, there’s a level of behaviours and a level of expectancy that you have to produce.

“That’s genuinely been true regarding the values that the club has stood for forever. You don’t get away with not doing it.”

McKinlay knows that Everton have endured some of the most turbulent seasons in their history of late but with the move to Hill Dickinson Stadium on the Mersey waterfront this month, he believes that there is an opportunity to work towards a better future. He said: “I’m an outsider for want of a better phrase. We’ve got Leighton, Seamus and the gaffer talking about it and what they say about Goodison is well-documented and true in every sense of the word.

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“We’ve got a new home now and there’s going to be another 13,000 supporters walking through the gate for every game, expecting Everton performances. It’s up to the players and the staff that we get to that level and do everyone proud.

“The stadium is sensational. It’s a new beginning for everybody and we’ll hopefully bring all that stuff that made Goodison great into the new stadium.

“I think this is an opportunity to be excited. Obviously, the last few years have been difficult for a number of reasons and I’ve not been privy to all that, so I don’t really want to talk about it.

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“But now there are new owners, and the manager has come in and done a brilliant job over the last six months. The players in particular have been outstanding to a man.

“There’s a hunger among those who have been here for a while and they’re enthused by the changes that have come about and hopefully there’s a bit more stability in that aspect. Who wouldn’t be excited about the stadium?

“When you walk in, it’s sensational. We just need to make sure we make the most of it and the special support that we’ve got.”

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So, at this time of transition, how has Moyes, changed? McKinlay said: “I’ve been working on and off with the manager for around a decade now and while his style has evolved, his fundamentals, his basic principles and values are still the same and stand the test of time. That’s discipline, hard work and honesty plus being respectful to those around you.

“I think all those things have not changed, which underpins everything. They’ve enabled him to be very successful with the demands and the hard work that he expects off everybody, staff and players alike.

“His appetite for the game and his enthusiasm has certainly not changed. The game has moved on, but he’s evolved with it in terms of how he wants his teams to play and compete and what we need to find is ways of winning games and I think that’s been evident.”

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Reflecting on his first overseas tour with Everton, McKinlay believes that the trip has been a positive one in terms of preparations for the 2025/26 season, which promises to be a pivotal moment in the club’s history and like the manager he hopes to be getting some more transfer deals done soon. He said: “It’s well-documented that everyone is working very hard behind the scenes on recruitment, but we’re here to give support to the players that are here, and in that respect, this trip has been fantastic. We’re looking to improve the squad and there are big changes from last year.

“There are consequences from that. The players that have been playing have probably been playing too much, too early, too often in this period which has an effect on performances and fatigue.

“Other clubs have got the same issues, but we’re only interested in ourselves. I think you have to take all of that into consideration and I’m sure everybody is.

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“The players have been fantastic, the trip has been great and well-organised. The games have been good, they’ve been tough and the next level up from the ones we had before we came out, so we’re obviously working towards Leeds.

“The training has been limited to a certain extent with the three games and playing every four days, that doesn’t allow you to over-train. Then, we’ve also got a limited number of players so some of them are being asked to play all the time.

“You have to balance the training and the games in terms of the physical aspect of it and try and make sure you don’t get any unnecessary injuries. But like I say, the organisation has been good, and the supporters have been great since we got out here.”

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McKinlay added that team spirit on tours is no longer fostered in a way it was done at many leading football clubs in the past. He said: “I think it’s different now. The old-fashioned ways of team bonding were well-documented but these days the players just bond differently.

“The manager has found the balance on this trip between work and rest. There are some new faces in the group and there have been a couple of occasions where we’ve gone out for food and stuff like that.

“The camaraderie is good. It’s one of the things I noticed particularly when I first game in to work with this squad, there is a really good bond between all of the players.

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“The ones who have been here for a while like Seamus, Tarky, Jordan and even Jarrad, who is not here, they make sure everything is ticking along nicely.”

Although they have since added teenage Bayern Munich left-back Adam Aznou, who joined up with the squad in Atlanta and came on for his debut as a substitute in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United in the final game, Everton initially flew out to the USA with Thierno Barry as their only new outfield player. Moyes singled out the France Under-21 international for praise after making his bow off the bench against Bournemouth in the opening game at the MetLife Stadium and McKinlay has also been pleased by the £27million signing’s early showings.

He said: “Thierno has looked really good. He’s settled in and he seems a quiet lad, but we’ll see how his character develops with the group.

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“In the short periods he’s had in games, he’s worked really hard and looks like he’ll be a good addition to the squad in terms of what he’s going to bring. He’s young and hungry and that competition that he’s providing for Beto has been terrific as well.”

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