Sean Dyche has praised Conor Coady today, after recently dropping him to the bench at Everton.
The Wolves defender is on loan at Goodison Park, and had initially started well.
Coady quickly struck up a good partnership with James Tarkowski, and fans really warmed to him and his personality.
But things have changed recently.
Everton brought in Dyche back in January to replace Frank Lampard.
Coady had been a regular starter for the Toffees under the former manager. But a new manager can always potentially mean new ways of thinking.
Dyche has the made the bold decision to swap out Coady for Michael Keane in recent weeks.
The 30-year-old has now not featured for Everton in any of their last three Premier League games.
It is a throwback to the start of the season, when Bruno Lage named Coady on the Wolves bench for the first two games against Leeds United and Fulham. He then left the club to join Everton on loan.
Today, Dyche has been speaking about the Coady situation. And he had nothing but good things to say about him.
He said (Liverpool Echo): “He’s been an immaculate professional, which everyone in the game has always suggested he is. And now I work with him I can see why, because he is.
“The fine margins of football and who to play for what reasons, and I just made a call on it, that was all. He’s a high quality footballer, that’s for sure. Fantastic attitude and a leader.
“It’s fine margins with who we are picking at the moment, because there are a number of players who could argue the case of getting (in the team). It enhances things less for your chances if the team is winning, not always but sometimes.
Conor Coady must respond after Sean Dyche dropped him for Everton and he missed England squad
So Coady finds himself warming the bench on loan at Everton, after being an absolute staple pick for Lampard.
There’s also the chance that a player can lose their place when a new manager comes in. It’s just one of those things in football.
To be honest though, Coady’s form did dip compared to the very start of the season.
It’s now on him to work hard to regain his place. He’ll be disappointed right now, and especially because he missed out on the latest England squad.
If he does finish the season as a bench-warmer, it will be very interesting to see if it affects him making a permanent move to Goodison.
The narrative for so long was that Coady would definitely sign permanently after his loan. But that does seem less certain now.