I could have stopped Everton’s financial meltdown

“Well, it costs a lot of money to buy two centre-forwards. We did in the end but by building deals that were future proof. It is the current, ongoing challenge of Everton Football Club.

“That was part of the remit. I’m not crying it in. When I got here they were not saying you are going to get loads of money. Obviously no one in football knew that 10 points [deduction] was coming. All fans were wondering where that came from. But there is no crying it in from me. These are the points we’ve got and these are the points that have been taken away, pending what happens next.

“The demand is high. The demand for the stadium. The demand to help the community. The demand on the pitch. With high demand usually comes high outlays. With high outlays, down the timeline, comes some form of trouble.”

Everton face Burnley on Saturday in a huge game at the bottom of the Premier League.

Dyche’s side would be reasonably comfortable with 32 points but for the deductions. Despite no win in 13 games, he believes that is a sign of progress.

“I would say it is a step forward from where it was over the last two seasons,” he said.

“When I got here the first job was to keep us up, the second was to move us forward. That is it, no more than that. And while I am doing that can I cut some money, while I am doing that can I cut the wages as well, and while doing that you realise we are not going to sign a load of players. It is not a radical step forward, but I think we all agree that this club is moving forward at a slow rate at the moment.”