Sean Dyche: Everton sack manager with club just one point above Premier League relegation zone | Football news
Everton sacked manager Sean Dyche after a run of just one win in their last 11 games, leaving them a point above the Premier League relegation zone.
Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman are set to take charge of the FA Cup third round tie against Peterborough on Thursday night.
The Toffees are 16th in the Premier League and did not register a goal during Saturday’s game 1-0 loss to Bournemouth – their eighth league defeat this season and they have failed to score in eight of their last 10 games.
Dyche was appointed as Everton boss in January 2023, steering the club towards Premier League survival with victory over the Cherries on the final day.
The 53-year-old then kept Everton in the top flight last season, despite the team having eight points deducted from their total for two separate breaches of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
‘The club remained in uncertainty after the slow response to the results of the weekend’
Sky Sports News’ Vinny O’Connor at Goodison Park:
“We knew Everton’s new owners were assessing the situation after the defeat at Bournemouth last weekend. We knew they were talking to other potential replacements, particularly Graham Potter.
“Dyche was under contract until the summer and the ideal scenario was for a couple of safe hands to take them through the season, maintain their Premier League status and then reassess in the summer.
“But recent results, one win in 11 league games, failure in eight of them, means they’ve decided the only way to change things is with a new manager.
“The club is already in limbo as, following the weekend’s result against Bournemouth, the owners were not quick to back Sean Dyche or make a decision regarding his future.
“It allowed West Ham to steal a march on them and put together a deal that was tempting enough for Graham Potter to sign for them.
“Now Everton’s search for a manager begins again. We know there has been unrest among the Evertons – the style of play, the lack of goals, the performance of their forward line with (Dominic) Calvert-Lewin on just two goals and 15 clean sheets.
“We had a strange situation here where the opposing manager lost his job, remember David Moyes who came back to Man Utd and lost his job shortly afterwards?
“Brendan Rodgers lost his job as Liverpool manager shortly after the Merseyside derby – but I can’t remember a manager losing his job so close to the start of the game.
“It’s taken a bit longer since the weekend, and that defeat against Bournemouth. Everton fans would have liked to have taken action earlier, and had some kind of determination.”
Everton’s woeful statistics: A poor attack sounded the alarm
Everton’s main problem this season has been scoring – and it has cost Dyche his job.
Everton have the second-lowest total number of goals scored in the Premier League this season, with their tally of 15 just ahead of bottom-placed Southampton.
Their shot conversion rate is under seven percent – but it’s not just their finishing that’s the problem. They are also ranked low due to the number of shots they have and the quality of chances they create.
These problems have been particularly evident over the past two months – since the start of November, Everton have scored just once from open play. They have also failed to score in eight of their 10 Premier League games in that time.
In total, they have failed to score in 11 of their 19 games this term, the worst record in the division.
Their defeat by Bournemouth was the second time this season that they failed to even get a shot on target – again, the worst record in the Premier League.
Everton’s return on points so far this season – with just three wins from 19 matches – is comparable to the starts to the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons of his predecessors Rafa Benitez and Frank Lampard, who were both sacked around this stage of the campaign. Dyche has now joined them in terminating their contract.
