But Dyche, who emphatically shut down the suggestion of a crisis during his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon, believes three points against Gary O’Neil’s side at Goodison Park would start to brighten the mood around the club.

He said: “I mean what I say. The story has been similar for two seasons. Wins change the story. So do performances and feel around it.

“You can lose a game at Villa. They have spent a fortune and look like a good outfit. But if you are going to lose a game, you lose while still showing fight and showing you are in it.

“Show some quality. Against Fulham, we did that. Results aside, it is the team that you want to see. My point is that it is about winning, of course, but if you are performing, people will clearly see the difference.

“Winning adds to the difference, and people will start to believe more. Last season, we beat Arsenal, lost to Liverpool, beat Leeds, and the story was just starting to go upwards. Then a few draws and losses meant we never quite got it going the right way until the end.

“When you win and perform, the mood changes. The fans’ words change, your words (media) change, and it snowballs in the right direction. But we have to win games.

“That is what we are trying to achieve. It is not just a win, but the idea that we can create a new feeling instead of this ‘same old, same old’.

“That is what it felt like last weekend, which is why I didn’t enjoy it. There was too much of ‘that was like it has been for years and years’. I take the defeat on the first game of the season. I don’t want to lose, but I want to see a team that can perform.”

Reflecting further on Villa, Dyche continued: “It is less concerning that if it was game 37, that is for sure, because you can nip it in the bud early and say ‘right, there is a reminder’.

“They were not at it as individuals and as a team. It happens. You would definitely prefer that at the beginning of the season than the end. We have quickly seen what is not expected.

“If you are not on it, you do not get anything. It is a reminder of what happens if you are not right. Occasionally, you can luck out, not play well, and get a draw.

“It happens over a season. But when it is not right, it is better it happens early. The bigger picture is we have lost players who have been very important since I have been here. Dwight was incredibly important.

“Then we’ve lost Alex, and Dom is very unfortunate having got back fit. That has to be factored in, certainly by me, even if others don’t give a monkey’s. Slowly but surely, we can get these people back in and look a stronger outfit.”

The 1-0 win over Bournemouth on the final day of last season provided Dyche with the chance to speak with refreshing honesty as he delivered a stark reality check to those in power at the club.

Dyche has long railed against the ‘noise’, as he puts it, that has engulfed the club since he arrived in January, and he refused to accept that the ‘baggage’ he inherited upon his arrival continues to make his job tougher than it should be.

He said: “I didn’t notice that [booing after the Fulham defeat], but what I would say is when you talk about ‘baggage’, let’s be clear, it is not players; I would never put them in that category because they were all signed here for a reason.

“So the ‘noise’ as I call it, or ‘baggage’ around the situation I was quite clear about, everyone in football was aware of it; you don’t have to be an Everton fan to know there was noise around the club about whatever terms you have used in the media the misalignment, or what is going on, who is putting the money in, and all this sort of stuff – that was open to everyone.

“When you talk about baggage on the club side, that is one thing, but on the playing side, it is not baggage; it is re-inventing people, renewing people who may have… [Abdoulaye] Doucoure was the best example.

“He was out of the picture; nothing to do with what was going on; I have no problem with that; it is a game of opinions; we all know that; he comes out, comes to life, and apart from a couple of occasions, he has been terrific.

“So it is not about baggage – I know you weren’t implying that – but some people do about players and bygone eras and different managers; you know, we are just trying to re-invent them and give them a new beginning.

“All of them it is open to. Andre Gomes has been incredibly unlucky with injuries since I came in. He came in confused: ‘Am I here or not? Who knows?’ And then I said, ‘hang on a minute; it is fresh for you.’

“Jarrad has come back; here we go, fresh, a new platform to work from. I believe that players can re-find themselves if they have been lost in the system or, as I think you are implying, if players from the past brought in by different managers and all that sort of stuff.

“Re-aligning them into what can happen is one of the biggest tasks – without signing players. And if you can sign players, they have still got to be good enough to affect the group; they still got to be good enough to work within the group and make it stronger. It’s an ongoing thing. There isn’t a short-term financial fix to the situation, which I was well aware of.”