Iliman Ndiaye talks up Everton trophy ambitions after major move - 'We want to change'
Iliman Ndiaye talks up Everton trophy ambitions after major move - 'We want to change'The Everton forward spoke about his ambition to lift silverware with the Blues at Hill Dickinson Stadium ahead of the clash with Mansfield in the Carabao Cup on WednesdayNdiaye celebrates scoring against Brighton (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)Iliman Ndiaye believes the move to Hill Dickinson Stadium can be the catalyst to Everton ending the longest trophy drought in the club’s history.Despite securing major silverware across nine separate decades, a feat that only Liverpool and Manchester United can top, the Blues have not tasted success since Paul Rideout’s goal gave them a 1-0 victory over Alex Ferguson’s Reds Devils in the 1995 FA Cup final. For most of Goodison Park’s existence, the first purpose-built football ground in England that was also the venue for the most English top flight fixtures, was the pre-eminent club stadium in the country.Less than two years after it opened, Goodison became the first English club ground to stage an FA Cup final in 1894 while in 1966 it became the only English club ground to host a World Cup semi-final, one of five fixtures it was awarded in the tournament. However, it was overtaken by many rivals during the modern era and last year it was revealed that ‘The Grand Old Lady’ ranked 18th in the Premier League for generating matchday revenue.Everton set for major changes as David Moyes considers late transfer decisions READ MORE:With Everton moving to the Mersey waterfront though, financial experts have calculated that playing at Hill Dickinson Stadium should boost their coffers by an additional £60million a year while the 52,769 capacity enables the Blues to play in front of the biggest regular crowds in their history given that previously they have only once enjoyed average attendances of more than 50,000 ((51,603 for the 1962/63 title-winning campaign). Following the 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday in the inaugural Premier League game at Everton’s new home, Wednesday’s Carabao Cup second round tie against League One Mansfield Town is another sell-out.Jordan Pickford – now the only member of England’s starting line-up at the last European Championship final not to win a major trophy after Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane secured the Bundesliga this year and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi lifted the FA Cup – spoke in the build-up to the Seagulls’ visit that The Friedkin Group are aiming high. The goalkeeper said: “I think ambitions can be raised with the new ownership.“They are a lot driven for success. They want silverware.”It’s an ambition shared by Ndiaye and when asked whether the move to Hill Dickinson Stadium can be the start of a push for silverware, he said: “That’s a target. We’ve got a new stadium and obviously we want to change what's been going on for the last few seasons. We want to change the way we do things and the way we think.“It’s good to think like that, to want to win trophies. Our target is to win trophies.“I feel like we’ve always wanted to look forward. Obviously things can happen that you can’t control, but we've always tried to look forward.“Now it’s a new project, a new stadium, things like that. It’s kind of like a new start, we’re looking up and thinking of winning trophies.”The 25-year old added: “When you get a win, you don’t want to slow down. You want to keep getting them so we’ve just got to keep working harder, reflect on the performance on Sunday, which was good, and keep going from here.“Last season wasn’t too great but we finished strong, which we needed for us, for the fans and the stadium because we were leaving. But coming to this new stadium, we’ve got new expectations, new targets and a new manager who’s been here for half of last season.Article continues below“It’s just about aiming high and I feel like the whole squad is in the same bubble. Everyone’s thinking the same, so I just want to aim high.”
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