Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on Everton's Deadline Day Frustrations

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall watched deadline day unfold like every Everton supporter – with his stomach turning.

At first there was the usual buzz, the sense that something big might be coming. Then confusion. Then, as the window slammed shut with David Moyes holding fewer players than he started with, just one recognised striker and no natural cover at either full-back, exasperation.

The fans raged at the club’s direction under The Friedkin Group. Dewsbury-Hall’s frustration came from somewhere else.

“We’ll show everyone”

So what’s the mood like inside a squad that saw a £40m move for Folarin Balogun collapse at the last moment, the US international walking away minutes after a deal sheet had gone in?

“Really good to be honest,” Dewsbury-Hall 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.’”

Everton’s early-season performances back him up. The noise outside has not seeped into the dressing room in the way many feared.

“I’ve seen all of the reactions, all of the meltdowns, and in all honesty it annoyed me a bit,” he says, not ducking the issue. “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 has already voiced his concern about what such a window might say to his players at a time when he is trying to drag standards higher. The midfielder doesn’t buy the idea that the damage runs deep.

“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.”

From Stamford Bridge to centre stage

Dewsbury-Hall is central to that belief. Since his £28m move from Chelsea last summer, he has gone from squad option to heartbeat, his decision to walk away from Stamford Bridge already fully vindicated.

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

At 28, he is no longer just the energetic midfielder driving games from the centre. Behind the scenes, his voice carries weight. When Séamus Coleman left in the summer, Everton moved to fill the void by creating a new leadership group. Dewsbury-Hall’s name was 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.”

The armband might sit elsewhere, but the responsibility is shared now. Dewsbury-Hall has embraced that, particularly with the younger players.

Protecting one of their own

Harrison Armstrong knows that first-hand. The 19-year-old midfielder was on the brink of joining Nottingham Forest before deadline day, only for Everton’s support to intervene in dramatic fashion.

At Bournemouth, travelling fans made their anger clear at the prospect of losing one of the club’s brightest academy products. The backlash reached the boardroom. The deal was scrapped.

“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 it on himself to sharpen the teenager’s game.

“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 [that Dewsbury-Hall scored on the opening day] or the Wolves goal last season. We have good banter.”

It is a glimpse of a squad that feels tighter, smaller, but fiercely protective of its core.

Eyes on Europe – and England

Dewsbury-Hall is not shy about his ambitions. For Everton and for himself.

European qualification is the target he sets out without blinking, despite the lack of depth. He wants a serious cup run, further improvement in his all-round game and, hanging over all of that, an England debut.

His form has already caught the attention of Thomas Tuchel, who names his next squad on Friday.

“I know I’m the closest I have ever been now,” Dewsbury-Hall 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.”

Nothing, he knows, will be given to Everton either. Not with this squad, this budget, this scrutiny.

But inside Finch Farm, they are not talking about survival or damage limitation. They are talking about proving people wrong.

And if Dewsbury-Hall gets his way, they will not just be fighting the narrative. They will be rewriting it.