From transfer worries to player concerns, Sean Dyche’s last few days as Everton boss were dramatic as the Friedkins made the call to sack him
Sean Dyche was different in his final press conference as Everton manager. Gone was the spiky ferocity of the immediate aftermath of the defeat to Bournemouth days earlier.
On Saturday night he had bristled next to the tinsel-strewn Christmas tree in the media area as the ECHO sought insight following a dismal performance on the south coast.
Ahead of his flight back to the north west, Dyche provided short answers as he raised his defences following a display in which his side had failed to muster a shot on goal.
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Three days later, as the snow fell outside the club’s Finch Farm training facility, he was more open. His honesty at the situation he found himself in was stark. He appeared wounded by the struggles of recent matches and the criticism that had grown as a result, leading to the first serious outbreak of questions over his future on Monday.
He was still in post 24 hours later when he acknowledged that, if he were Everton’s new owners, he too would be succession planning.
“I would have thought we’d have had more wins than we’ve had, let me make that clear.” he said after the cameras stopped rolling. He was still keen – with justification – to stress that his time with the club had involved dealing with the chaos of the final years of Farhad Moshiri’s rule.
But there appeared to be an acceptance that his third season was not playing out as he had hoped. Some of his comments almost amounted to what looked like a “come and sack me plea” to The Friedkin Group [TFG] that had backed him in private when their takeover was completed last month.
Dyche’s press conferences regularly featured awkward moments when he had to signal a comment had in fact been a joke. On the occasions he did not, such as when he suggested Arnaut Danjuma flew to training each day, some websites and social channels were prone to missing the punchline.
It was perhaps fitting, therefore, that his last words to the press as Blues boss were delivered in similar wry fashion. With Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Youssef Chermiti and Armando Broja all having missed training, when asked what attacking options he was left with for the FA Cup tie with Peterborough United, he responded: “Today, Beto, Beto, Beto or Beto! Today. But tomorrow Broja has a chance, it is not too bad, it has settled down quicker than we thought. Iliman [Ndiaye] can operate up there, joking apart, in that top field role. At a push, really we are going beyond that to Keano [Michael Keane] who is a top finisher but it is a lot to ask of a centre-half, but he is a top finisher.”
It was hard to read whether Dyche, having turned to the centre back as a striker in moments of desperation already this season, was joking or not about the potential to turn one of his top scorers into an attacker against the League One opposition. That of itself is an indication of just how challenging being the manager of Everton currently is.
What was clear was that Dyche’s demeanour had changed and some of Everton’s first team players felt the same way, several acknowledging privately that they thought his time might be coming to an end due to the way he came across to them after the loss at Bournemouth.
It is now known that talks were well underway with TFG from the start of this week, Dyche having conceded to his new bosses that he was struggling to turn Everton’s form around just as Premier League rivals such as Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town improved and made early moves in the January transfer market.
Dyche never quite lost the dressing room. For all that there were moments of intense difficulty, and players grew frustrated at tactics, training and, for some, a lack of opportunity, the Everton squad retained a core of experienced professionals, some loyal to Dyche and several eager to put the needs of the club at the forefront of their minds.
Even amid the relief at the win over Peterborough, Keane was one of several figures to reflect that accountability for Everton’s position stretched beyond Dyche, saying: “As players, we need to take responsibility for that. I don’t think we as players have been good enough as a collective and shown the quality we’ve got.”
The maturity such as that shown by Keane outside the Goodison dressing rooms was pivotal to Dyche in times of great stress. When Everton were at their lowest it was often the interventions of players like club captain Seamus Coleman that made the difference, the veteran rallying the players with a speech at half time as the Blues trailed at home to Crystal Palace earlier this year.
Several were moved enough to attribute the responsibility for the comeback win that followed – the desperately needed first league victory of the campaign – to Coleman after the game.
But as form dipped so too did concern over some of Dyche’s comments – it did not go unnoticed among players that, in the heat of questioning at the Vitality Stadium – he appeared to venture unnecessarily into highlighting Jarrad Branthwaite’s misjudgement for David Brooks’ late winner.
For all that Dyche’s time on Merseyside had come to an end in principle by Thursday afternoon, there was still surprise when the news broke officially. There had been murmurs that his position was under threat on Monday but his appearance before the media the next day continued the pretence that he remained steadfast in his belief he could ride through another rough patch as he had done, to his credit, in the past.
Another bout of claims from inside the football industry began to circulate on Thursday morning though and his departure eventually followed. When it did, it was the timing that was the surprise rather than the decision itself.
There was no time to remove Dyche’s pre-match notes from the matchday programme, while the teamsheets were initially printed with Dyche listed as still being in charge.
“I’ve never had it before,” Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson said after his side was beaten 2-0 by an Everton team led in the dugout by interim management team Leighton Baines and Coleman. “I don’t think anyone has. It is very unusual that a manager gets sacked three, four hours before the game… I think the timing of it surprised everyone.”
Dyche had continued his preparations for the match leading into the day of the game as discussions with TFG continued over the terms of his departure. Having accepted the difficulty he was having in improving form, TFG believed it would not be appropriate to meet all of his exit clauses and terms in full. The new owners were also keen to send a message that they would not be a soft tough when it comes to financial negotiations.
The protracted nature of the talks led to the unusual timing of Dyche’s exit, confirmed when a breakthrough was reached. They are also understood to have been a factor in the short 75-word statement that confirmed Dyche’s exit – a comment that included no sense of gratitude nor any reflection on the work he had done since taking over from Frank Lampard in late January 2023.
Baines and Coleman were mobilised late after director of football Kevin Thelwell informed the players of Dyche’s departure during their pre-match meal at The Titanic Hotel, not far from the club’s new waterfront stadium. Coleman had expected to be in the matchday squad as a player when he was called upon.
“It was very late, it was very late for us both,” the defender acknowledged after the game. “We’re both Evertonians. I think I was supposed to be on the bench tonight and it changed very quickly. I always say, whatever Everton need from me, I’m going to be there. Tonight, they needed me to stand beside Leighton and help him. I was more than happy to do so and it was good for the lads to get a win as well.”
Both figures command respect at the club and both maintained their class amid the drama. Coleman did more than anyone to offer Dyche some credit on Thursday, adding: “It’s never nice when you part ways with the manager. The manager done his job when he was here, he helped us through a 10-point deduction and tried to instil some Everton beliefs.”
Baines, meanwhile, pointed out that Dyche’s departure was the result of problems that extended beyond the responsibility of the manager.
He said: “We spoke to them before the game, losing managers and coaches is never what anyone wants and that normally means that something hasn’t gone quite right. It is never on one person that, it is on a lot of people that are involved in it and the players knew they had to try and show something in terms of a response to it and they did.”
Baines, the Under-18s manager at the club, said he had started work as normal at Finch Farm before being asked to go to the first team hotel.
He added: “It has definitely been difficult because a manager losing his job is never good and it normally follows a difficult period, not just a difficult day, and it has been that. But I think within all of that there is definitely going to be hope and optimism, that is something we have spoken about today.
“Things are changing at the football club – the ownership, the stadium and the things that are being talked about. The manager has had to leave and that is not what anyone wants but there will be a new manager coming in and that brings opportunity.”
The biggest opportunity for the new manager will be the January transfer window. While Everton are still restricted by spending regulations, there is a belief the club can do some business if the right deals can be found.
Assessing the ‘right’ deal was another complication while Dyche remained in post. One of the biggest frustrations of this season had been his failure to build on what would have been a mid-table finish last year without two points deductions.
That struggle came despite the additional attacking talent brought to the club, including Iliman Ndiaye, Jesper Lindstrom and Armando Broja. With Dyche’s contract set to expire in the summer and a change in the dugout having become increasingly likely, Everton had to battle between pursuing targets with a view to the club’s long term progress in mind against chasing players Dyche would consider using to immediately strengthen the first team as it fought relegation again.
The Blues boss was clear in his opinion that the summer window had not been as successful as others viewed – stressing the lack of Premier League experience among the arrivals as one of his areas for concern.
Everton could not afford to spend what money is available on additions Dyche would, like Ndiaye or centre back Jake O’Brien, not use as anticipated. The experiences of some of those players who had not integrated into Dyche’s plans are also understood to have resonated with players outside the club, leading to concerns over whether Everton could attract targets when there was uncertainty over whether they would be given a chance while Dyche remained in charge.
That conflict was one of the many factors that brewed into a perfect storm in the aftermath of the Bournemouth debacle – though West Ham United’s pursuit of Graham Potter is not believed to have been key. While Potter was on the radar of Everton and had come under consideration as scenarios for the future had been drawn out, the intent had been to support Dyche in the short term in the hope he would provide TFG with the space to properly prepare for a transitional summer.
Recent results, and his increasingly strained relationship with Everton supporters, combined with the growing threat to Everton’s Premier League status, meant the new owners were receptive to change once they became aware of Dyche’s own concerns for the future.
