Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Reflects on Everton's Deadline Day Chaos
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has lived through deadline day from both sides of the glass. He calls it “exciting for everyone”, yet his first real taste of the chaos at Everton dragged him through the same emotional storm as the supporters. The buzz turned to confusion. Then came the anger – his, though, for different reasons to a fanbase left staring at a squad that looked lighter and a project under The Friedkin Group that suddenly felt uncertain.
By the time the window slammed shut, David Moyes had fewer players than when it opened, a single recognised striker and no natural cover at either full-back. The farce peaked when US international Folarin Balogun walked away from a £40m move minutes after a deal sheet had gone in. From the outside, Everton looked exposed.
Inside Finch Farm? Dewsbury-Hall insists the mood tells a different story.
“The mood is really good to be honest,” he 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.’”
The performances so far this season back him up.
He has watched the reaction online, the fury, the fatalism, and he doesn’t bother to hide how it hit him.
“I’ve seen all of the reactions, all of the meltdowns, and in all honesty it annoyed me a bit,” he says, blunt and clear. “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 own worries about what the window might signal to the players at a time when he is trying to drag the team forward. The fear is obvious: a thin squad, a long season, bruised belief.
Dewsbury-Hall shrugs that off.
“Not really, no,” he says when asked if the business has hurt the dressing room. “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.”
He will be central to any success. Since his £28m move from Chelsea last summer, the midfielder has grown into the heartbeat of Moyes’s side. Regular minutes, responsibility, the ball always finding his feet – it is exactly why he walked away from Stamford Bridge.
“I’m in the prime years of my career,” the 28-year-old says. “I couldn’t afford to spend more years stagnating.”
He has not just taken on a bigger role on the pitch. With Séamus Coleman gone, Everton had a hole at the core of their dressing room. The club responded by creating a leadership group. Dewsbury-Hall, after just one season, is 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.”
That influence stretches to the next generation.
Guiding the next wave
Harrison Armstrong came within hours of leaving Everton on deadline day. The 19-year-old midfielder looked set to join Nottingham Forest, only for the club to backtrack after a furious reaction from travelling Evertonians at Bournemouth. Supporters made their anger clear. The owners listened.
“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.
“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.”
The teasing is light, the message serious. Standards matter. So do ambitions.
Europe, cups and England
Dewsbury-Hall doesn’t hide his goals for the season. European qualification. A deep cup run. A better all‑round game. And, hanging over all of that, a first England cap.
His form has already nudged him to the edge of the national squad. Thomas Tuchel names his latest group next Friday and the Everton midfielder knows he is closer than ever.
“I know I’m the closest I have ever been now,” he 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.”
The same, he knows, applies to Everton. No favours. No shortcuts. A thin squad, a demanding manager, a restless fanbase and a season that could tilt either way.
Dewsbury-Hall looks around the dressing room, sees those “top players” and senses opportunity rather than risk. Now the question is simple: can this lean, angry Everton side turn that siege mentality into something that lasts all the way into Europe?
