'Peter Reid is one of my best mates, so are Andy Gray and Paul Bracewell whom I worked with at Sunderland – these people have always made me aware of just how special and unique a club Everton is and I feel really enthused and energised to come in as manager,' said the former England manager.
'I've always thought Everton was a great club. It's one of the biggest there is. Obviously, the club has gone through a difficult spell and hopefully we can put that behind us as quickly as possible and start looking upwards again.
'Because, ultimately, it's the ambition of the club, the ambition of the owner and the board, allied to the fact that it's Everton and all the fantastic history, which have proved to be key for me.
'Ambition is important for any manager or coach, owner or director. It's what you need to have and hopefully we can deliver to the fans to get this club high up the league. That's what we're aiming for.'
'I think that whatever's happened before we've just got to all rally around together. Players, fans and staff,' he added.
'Because we are all in it together. Let's all pull in the same direction. Let's try to get a healthy spirit around the club. That's difficult when you're losing but the win last night over West Ham and the magnificent atmosphere around Goodison, which was just brilliant, well that's lifted everybody around the club.'
We've got to try to keep our heads up and push ourselves until we make sure we get that better. The fans are the most important people at any football club, particularly here, and we have to give the players every possibility to play to their best, really give them no excuses for not playing to their best and get them right back up to the top level we believe they're capable of.'
