Ronald Koeman pauses for a moment to think of a succinct answer to the question that has been bothering Southampton supporters since his summer departure and is already hovering over his return to St Mary’s with Everton on Sunday. Are the prospects at his new club really that much better than at his old one? Southampton are already in the Europa League, after all, and that seems to be the limit of Everton’s realistic aspirations, always assuming they can regain consistency after almost falling to an unexpected home defeat against Swansea last week.
“Everton is a big club but not an easy project,” he admits, before going on to outline the reasons why. One is that for all the club’s history and stature it is surrounded by bigger, wealthier neighbours. It used to be just Liverpool and Manchester United but, now Manchester City have joined in, it is hard to see what Everton can do to be anything other than fourth best in the north-west. Then there are the London clubs to consider. Chelsea are back in contention along with Arsenal this year while Tottenham are finding out just how hard it is to break into the Champions League echelon and stay there.
A second consideration is that a club of Everton’s grandeur, however faded, sets high standards for itself. “There is more criticism here,” Koeman says. “People expect more and they want results more quickly. Southampton was different because everyone understood that, if players were sold, and a lot of players were sold, you need time to get new players in and adapted to the team.
“I think we once went without a win for seven games and everyone was still happy because basic stability in the Premier League is a big achievement that has come along only in the last few years. You can see the difference between Everton and Southampton in that respect and that’s why I made my decision to come here. You have to deal with high expectations but I have always had that in my career as a player and a manager.”
After a promising start Everton have reverted to type to some extent in recent weeks and Koeman has been subject to criticism, whether for his honest, bordering on undiplomatic, appraisals of Romelu Lukaku’s future and Liverpool’s title chances, or for the way his team has performed. Boos were heard around Goodison last week when Everton turned round a goal down to Swansea. “If you have expectations as a club, then coping with criticism is part of your job,” he says. “I don’t have any problems with criticism. We all like being part of the Premier League. There is a lot of attention and we enjoy that but football is always the same. If you win, you have friends. If you don’t win, you are looking for friends. That’s the game.”
All the same if things do not go well this afternoon, Koeman is in danger of getting it in the neck from both sets of fans. He claims the Southampton board did not offer him what he wanted when talks had commenced on an extended contract whereas fans formed the less charitable impression that he strung the club along before accepting a more lucrative offer. “I think I still have some friends at Southampton. I certainly enjoyed my time there and there are some good people behind the club,” he says. “But I am Everton manager now and my job is to prepare the team for a difficult match.
“My focus is not about what the reception will be on my return. I can’t change what the fans do. Why should I have a bad sleep worrying about what will happen when I go back? I am concentrated on my job and, if the fans whistle, they whistle. It’s no problem for me. I understood the Everton fans whistling against Swansea last week because I wasn’t happy with the first-half performance either.”
When Koeman suggested Lukaku might have to look elsewhere to realise all his ambitions last month, the backlash highlighted the basic difference in approach between Everton and Southampton. The latter have moved on so many top-quality players in recent seasons it is a wonder they have managed to stay in the Premier League, let alone reach Europe. Their supporters might not have been delighted to see the exodus of Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne, Sadio Mané, Luke Shaw and many others but they remain realistic.
Everton have difficulty regarding themselves as a selling club. They might part with a Wayne Rooney or a John Stones once in a while but, when they break their transfer record for a striker such as Lukaku, they want to feel that is the end of a narrative and not an intermediary chapter. Southampton were not offended by the suggestion that players might wish to join clubs with Champions League credentials; they see it as a natural progression. Everton supporters still harbour Champions League ambitions of their own. It is a distant prospect, granted, though not one that will come any closer by selling their leading goalscorer.
“It is difficult,” Koeman accepts. “Look at Tottenham and what they are trying to do. It is not so easy to turn yourself into one of the big clubs in the Premier League and also the Champions League. Southampton are finding it difficult playing in Europe as well as the Premier League this season. They are having to rotate a lot.
“What we need to show to the players is that there is a big future at Everton to stay for and European football is the next step to make the club interesting. Nobody knows what will happen in the next two years or so. We just have to try to get stronger. As long as I am here as Everton manager I will try to do everything to keep the players but, if there is a big Champions League team knocking on the door, that is not so easy. I understand the ambition of players.”
And what of Koeman’s own ambition? In the heated debate that followed his Lukaku comments it was rather unkindly suggested that the manager himself was only treating Everton as a stepping stone to greater things. “I don’t have any grand plan sketched out,” he says. “I don’t think you can in football. It is a bit different for a manager than a player. Players always want to reach the highest level possible and there is a time limit to their careers.
“As a manager I signed a three-year contract with Everton and I am very happy to have done so. My only plan at the moment is to do my best for the club, to try to get everyone happy because they like the way the team is playing. What actually happens you cannot plan. In football nobody knows.”
