In the first big call by its new American owners, Everton fired manager Sean Dyche on Thursday just a few hours before the struggling Premier League team played an FA Cup match.
Everton made the move with the team one point above the relegation zone and having won just one of its last 11 games.
More surprising, maybe was the timing of the announcement, which came around three hours before Everton hosted and beat third-tier Peterborough 2-0 in the third round of the FA Cup.
"It’s never nice when a manager loses his job, but then everyone had to get on with their jobs as well — there was a game of football in front of us all," said Leighton Baines, the club’s under-18s coach who along with captain Seamus Coleman was tasked with leading the team on an interim basis.
The storied club — a nine-time English champion which has been without a major trophy since 1995 — was bought last month by the Texas-based Friedkin Group in a deal reportedly worth in excess of 400 million pounds ($495 million).
Fronted by Dan Friedkin and his son Ryan, the group also owns Italian team Roma and has made itself unpopular with supporters of the Serie A club for making contentious management changes — including firing Daniele De Rossi, the club’s beloved former captain, early this season.
Removing Dyche might have been necessary, however, with Everton on a dreadful run of form and having scored in just three of its last 11 matches. With 15 goals from its 19 games, Everton is the second-lowest scorer in the division and has plunged to just one point above the bottom three.
“The process to appoint a new manager is underway and an update will be provided in due course,” Everton said in a statement.
David Moyes, who managed Everton from 2002-13, has been linked with the vacancy. In October, Jose Mourinho — the current coach of Fenerbahce — spoke openly about wanting to return to England to manage a team near the bottom of the standings and not in UEFA competition once his time in Turkey came to an end. Mourinho has coached Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham in the Premier League.
Dyche was in charge for nearly two years, during which he maintained Everton's status as an ever-present in England's top division since 1954. His style of play was pragmatic and often turgid, relying on not conceding goals more than providing entertainment — and that might be something the Friedkins look to change.
Everton’s next Premier League game is on Wednesday against Aston Villa.
Baines said he had no information about who would be in charge for that game.
“Not too sure about that right now,” he said. “Things moved so quickly today. Definitely haven't had time to think about what comes next just yet.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
