After days of speculation and conjecture Everton have indeed sacked Sean Dyche, with the news breaking just three hours before Thursday’s FA Cup tie against Peterborough kicks off.
Coaches Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Mark Howard and Billy Mercer have also left, with U18s boss Leighton Baines and club captain Seamus Coleman taking charge of tonight’s game.
The timing is unusual, hours before a game, but the writing has been on the wall for a while.
The Toffees have won just three times in 19 games this season and just eight in 2024, the joint-third lowest in their history.
There has also been a chronic lack of goals, scoring just 15 in the league this season and just one in open play since the end of October. Last weekend’s defeat at Bournemouth saw the Toffees fail to even muster a shot on target for the second time this season.
That said, while this feels the right decision Evertonians will always be thankful to Dyche for keeping the club up when all felt lost in 2022-23, and steering the club through the chaos of two points deductions and into mid-table last season, with next to no leadership in place above him.
However, performances have gone dramatically backwards this season. The supporters were willing to tolerate Dyche’s pragmatic style for as long as it was getting results. Once that turned then support drained away rapidly.
The Times reports that Dyche had told the Friedkin Group (TFG) he had taken the club as far as he could, with the US group feeling he had ‘given up’. As a result they believed he did not deserve the full six months of his contract paying up as it was tantamount to resigning – something Dyche disagreed with. The report states that discussions then took place over recent days to agree a compensation deal.
With Everton moving to Bramley-Moore Dock this summer it has never been more important to avoid relegation. So with Ipswich and Wolves picking up form, dragging Everton to within one point of the drop zone, things began to get very nervy.
It means Everton are looking for an eighth manager in nine years since Roberto Martinez’s dismissal in May 2016 and an early test of TFG’s leadership. Do they go for a short-term appointment to steer the team away from danger? Or do they go for their long-term option now? Jose Mourinho has already been ruled out, while reports suggesting interest in Graham Potter before he joined West Ham have been played down.
The next few days could be very interesting.
