It was a move that blindsided Everton’s new owners The Friedkin Group (TFG), barely a fortnight into their tenure.
Earlier this week, manager Sean Dyche informed the club’s hierarchy that he had taken the team as far as he could. Dyche did not go as far as to formally resign — that would have had financial ramifications with his £5million ($6.2m) a year deal due to expire at the end of the season.
But wearied by a turbulent couple of years that saw points deductions, relegation battles and near-constant speculation over the future of the club, the 53-year-old made clear his view that his methods were no longer having the same impact.
The message was that he felt his players, consciously or otherwise, had stopped responding to his methods and that he was no longer the man to take the club on.
The last few years at Goodison have ground everyone down, including him.
TFG had arrived at Everton with the idea that Dyche, increasingly under pressure from fans over his seeming inability to avert a fourth successive relegation fight and one-dimensional tactics, would likely see out his contract — and therefore the season — before making a change.
He had been backed, publicly and in private meetings on TFG’s arrival. Key decision-makers in Houston, where the company has its headquarters, had seen him dig the club out of holes before and initially believed he could do so again.
But Dyche’s comments forced TFG to act. Even on the new ownership’s side, there is an acceptance that the eventual timing of his departure, hours before Thursday’s FA Cup game against Peterborough United of England’s third tier, was far from ideal. It came, though, after protracted talks, held over a couple of days, over his compensation package.
Dyche felt his methods were no longer working with the players (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
TFG’s view was that Dyche’s comments and behaviour meant he did not deserve his full salary for the final six months of his deal, plus bonuses. That was what he and his representatives wanted, but a settlement was eventually reached. Those close to the ownership have been keen to emphasise they took a hardline stance in negotiations in an attempt to protect the club and show that they were not a soft touch.
The short and pointed club statement on Thursday afternoon confirming Dyche’s exit, in which no thanks was offered to the former Burnley manager and his staff, spoke volumes.
Dyche may have helped save Everton last season at a critical juncture for the club, but he did not leave on good terms.
Everton had many mad weeks under former owner Farhad Moshiri, but this one has rivalled them.
With news over his predicament slowly filtering through, it was a surprise to some at Everton’s Finch Farm training base that Dyche turned up, as usual, to lead training on Thursday morning. He did so while his settlement was being sorted, and had named a team for the match.
Even at that stage, some in the dressing room, according to sources consulted by The Athletic for this piece — all of whom are not authorised to speak publicly and have asked to remain anonymous — sensed something was not quite right.
But it was only later at a pre-match meal around three hours before kick-off at The Titanic Hotel, a stone’s throw from Everton’s new home of Bramley-Moore Dock, that the players were informed of his departure by director of football Kevin Thelwell.
There was some surprise when Leighton Baines, a former player and the Everton under-18 head coach, arrived at the Titanic Hotel. Baines had been at the training ground when he was informed he would be taking the first team for the game. He was joined in the dugout by club captain Seamus Coleman, who had initially expected to be on the substitutes’ bench.
Baines, left, and Coleman in the technical area for the Peterborough tie (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
It was too late for Baines and Coleman to name a new team or change too much tactically. But subtle tweaks were made to the game plan and the messaging, with the level of detail said to have been impressive. One key emphasis was on playing through the thirds more than they had under Dyche, who favoured the early, direct long ball up to the lone striker.
The Everton players were asked to deliver a response after a tough day and show pride in the badge. They were reminded that there is a potentially bright future ahead for the club under new ownership and in a new stadium, set to be opened for competitive games at the start of next season.
Everton won the game 2-0. But a draining 24 hours had taken its toll. “It’s not been a good day for the club,” defender Michael Keane, who played under Dyche at Burnley and Everton, said. “Any time you lose a manager, it’s really disappointing and sad.
“As players, we need to take responsibility for that. I don’t think we have been good enough as a collective and shown the quality we’ve got.”
Dyche’s exit came too late for Everton to take out his programme notes from Thursday’s matchday programme.
(Patrick Boyland/The Athletic)
It was another reminder that the speed of recent events took many by surprise, even if the writing had long been on the wall.
In truth, it had reached the point where it was when, not if, Dyche would leave.
As is usual, internal due diligence on successors started some time ago. And while TFG’s original idea had been to back Dyche for the remainder of the campaign, alternative options had been discussed, and in some cases, contacted.
One popular option presented to the new ownership was the former Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea manager Graham Potter. Director of football Thelwell was a particular admirer and Potter’s status as a free agent made him potentially attainable before the summer if needed.
Everton spoke to Potter’s camp to gauge his interest in replacing Dyche. He was the favoured candidate of some key figures to get the job if TFG acted quickly in making a change. But when the time came to make a definitive decision, TFG hesitated, seemingly unsure of his suitability for the role. West Ham United were pondering a change too and stole a march as they dismissed Julen Lopetegui and installed Potter.
Sources close to TFG insist Potter was never the No 1 choice and that a formal offer from Everton was never forthcoming.
Yet the confusion and delay were unhelpful, particularly during a January window, and all of this played out with Dyche still in situ. The most common assumption is that he will have been aware of developments, just waiting for the axe to eventually fall.
The confusion over Everton’s managerial situation has been unhelpful given the team’s predicament. There is an acceptance from many at the club that the squad, just one point above the relegation zone, is in urgent need of strengthening. But key targets have already gone elsewhere. Players have wanted to know who they would be working under.
In the meantime, rivals have strengthened and, in some cases, do so with players high on Everton’s list. Ipswich Town are closing in on winger Jaden Philogene, a player tracked by Thelwell and his recruitment team over the summer and again this January. Once again, when the time came to submit an offer, the move stalled.
Everton were keen on Philogene but he is set to sign for Ipswich (Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
The hope internally will be for a quick resolution on the manager front and some clarity on what comes next in the market. There is money for Everton to spend under TFG, but they must still be careful of adhering to financial rules.
The task in front of Dyche’s replacement is significant. Like many of his predecessors, the former Burnley manager saw key players sold on a regular basis in an attempt to balance the books and keep Everton afloat.
Still, it did not seem like he and the recruitment team were always on the same page. Under Thelwell, Everton have had to try to box cleverly. Before the takeover, their model saw them target mainly young players who could be developed and had resale value. Dyche, meanwhile, has predominantly favoured older, more experienced players throughout his career. These are not easy differences to reconcile and it was telling this season when Dyche suggested during a press conference that he would refuse to play anyone he had not wanted to sign.
Iliman Ndiaye joined from Marseille over the summer for £15million and was earmarked by recruitment as a potential solution in the No 10 role behind the main striker. Dyche, though, was stubborn in his insistence that the Senegal forward was better on the wing and instead persisted with two square pegs in Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dwight McNeil.
Republic of Ireland centre-back Jake O’Brien joined from Lyon for just under £17m and was promised a role as understudy to James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite. O’Brien was another recruitment favourite, someone signed with a view to being able to contribute this season and developing into a key player in the future.
There has been surprise and confusion over the 23-year-old’s lack of game time. He is yet to start a Premier League game this season and has found himself behind Dyche favourite Keane.
Everton managed to avoid a significant upfront payment to Lyon this summer, but they have ended up committing £17m, at a time when finances are tight, on a backup player. Had everyone been on the same page, those funds could have made a difference elsewhere in the squad.
There was also shock internally over Dyche’s decision to play Keane over Branthwaite, who is widely regarded as the club’s most valuable asset.
O’Brien has barely been seen on the pitch since arriving from Lyon (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
Branthwaite had missed pre-season after undergoing surgery on a troublesome and long-standing groin injury, but spent several weeks on the bench as Everton toiled. Keane was preferred, Dyche said, due to his consistent performances over the summer and at the start of the season. But when the change came, the sense was that Dyche had done so begrudgingly, to appease key club figures and supporters.
The response in the dressing room to his departure has been mixed. There are plenty for whom a change could potentially be beneficial. According to sources consulted by The Athletic, some players complained about the lack of guidance tactically and in training sessions, craving more detail.
Some attacking players felt they had too much defensive responsibility and were isolated, leading to slumps in form and confidence. Leading the line or playing on the wings were seen as thankless tasks. Wingers became secondary full-backs at times and were exhausted by the time they reached the final third.
Dyche’s man-management received mixed reviews. An incident during a mid-season trip to Portugal in March, in which he was rumoured to have jokingly slapped full-back Nathan Patterson, raised eyebrows — in terms of how events played out and how quickly it was leaked to the media. Dyche went on record to deny those reports.
The summer departure of long-standing goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly, widely lauded for his role working with Everton and England No 1 Jordan Pickford, was seen by some as another false step. The popular Kelly was replaced by Billy Mercer, Dyche’s goalkeeping coach at Burnley.
The exit of Kelly, right, was not a popular move (Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)
The exit of first-team analyst Alex Scanlon, who worked primarily on set pieces, also appears to have had an impact. Everton’s set pieces, long a strength under Dyche, have not been as effective this season.
There will be those in the dressing room who are more sympathetic to the job Dyche did and the extremely challenging circumstances he was often working under. Coleman spoke about him bringing back Everton values to the club. His handling of injury-prone players Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dele Alli was often highlighted as a positive.
Even after Saturday’s dismal defeat to Bournemouth, Doucoure, one of the mainstays in Dyche’s setup, publicly backed the manager. Speaking after Thursday’s game, Keane spoke in positive terms about his now-former manager.
“He’s been brilliant for me,” the defender said. “He’s been a brilliant manager — is a brilliant manager — and his staff are as well. It’s just one of those things. It’s football and it doesn’t always work out. But when you look at his time here, the two years in general, he’s done a really good job.
“Last season, we had deductions and ended up staying up relatively comfortably. There were a lot of good things, it’s just unfortunate the way it’s ended.”
History will almost certainly look back favourably on the job Dyche did at Everton last season, at a critical juncture. He played his role in keeping heads above water at a time when relegation would have been disastrous. In the face of chaos last season, the total of 48 points before deductions was genuinely impressive.
But it was increasingly hard this season to escape the conclusion — one he had seemingly also come to — that it had gone stale and was time for a change.
Even his supporters would acknowledge Everton have regressed in just about every key performance metric this season.
Dyche has often had unwavering faith in his methods but seemed incapable of making the changes necessary to improve matters, particularly in the final third. Everton have failed to score in a league-high 11 games this season, and eight of their last 10 top-flight matches.
Since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, Dyche’s side scored 26 goals from open play, the lowest of any of the Premier League’s ever-presents in that time. The team with the next fewest, West Ham, managed more than twice as many (56).
Attacking patterns were hard to discern, beyond the basic ball up to the main striker. Shape, structure and hard work were often foregrounded to the detriment of other areas, even if Dyche has been right to point to a lack of quality in the final third. Simply, he appeared to have run out of ideas.
There will be relief on his side that it is now all over. But the legacy of his tenure and cost-cutting measures is a side that is fighting for survival and in urgent need of help.
TFG will need to get the next step right. Outside Goodison on Thursday, a supporter stopped in the cold to take a picture of a section of the Everton Timeline — a chronology of important events that decorate the outside of the old stadium.
The image that grabbed his attention was one of David Moyes, now the frontrunner to replace Dyche, holding up an Everton scarf after his appointment in 2002. Provided talks progress, there may soon be another more recent picture of Moyes in Everton colours to add.
Moyes during his first spell in charge (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
With Potter now at West Ham, TFG are keen to bring in someone who understands the league and can help keep Everton up.
Moyes has been earmarked as that figure and may well end up being their Claudio Ranieri at Goodison: an old favourite who has been brought in to stabilise and improve the atmosphere in the stadium. The Italian was recently appointed as manager of Roma, another TFG-owned club, and has guided them up the Serie A table.
Links to Jose Mourinho, the favourite with bookmakers until Thursday, have been played down. The Portuguese worked for TFG at Roma and left on bad terms, publicly criticising TFG and has since joined Fenerbahce in Turkey on a lucrative contract.
Time is of the essence now given Everton’s perilous position in the table and the need to reinforce the squad for the relegation battle seemingly ahead. It is hoped a new manager will be in situ quickly, potentially in time for Wednesday’s game at home to Aston Villa.
In light of media speculation, Baines, who played for Moyes at Everton, was left to answer questions on Thursday about his former manager’s potential return.
“I don’t want to get too dragged into who the right man is,” he said. “What I can do is speak about David Moyes because I played for him. He was a great coach to play for and a good man.”
Then came a familiar plea, one just about everyone associated with Everton would echo after such a turbulent period for the club
“The club is in a position where it definitely wants some stability — and that has been the message from the owners,” Baines added. “Everyone would gladly accept that.
“We have been through a lot.”
(Top image: Getty; Bradley Collyer/PA Images, MI News/NurPhoto; design: Dan Goldfarb)
