Premier League side Everton Football Club have officially decided to part ways with manager Sean Dyche after just less than two years at the club. The announcement came just hours before Everton plays Peterborough in the FA Cup. Under-18’s coach Leighton Baines is set to take over as interim head coach.
Everton are currently sitting in 16th place in the Premier League, just one point above the relegation zone after being beaten by Bournemouth 1-0 last weekend.
The Friedkin Group, who recently completed a 400 million GBP takeover of Everton just a few weeks ago, had reportedly told the BBC that the ownership group had been in dialogue with Dyche, suggesting that both parties were seeing an “end of the road” in recent days.
As with most manager sackings in the Premier League, the focus will now be on who will take over the vacant role. Here are some of the names that could be in contention:
Jose Mourinho
It seems the Portuguese gaffer just can’t ignore his love affair with the Premier League. Currently coaching Turkish side Fenerbache, Mourinho recently said in an interview last October: “The best thing I have to do is when I leave (Fenerbache) is that I go to a club that doesn’t play in UEFA competition — so a club at the bottom in England who needs a coach in two years, I’m ready to go.”
It seems this would fit Everton to a tee. Mourinho excels in defensive structure — something Everton is already good at having conceded only 25 goals in the Premier League so far this season — two less than giants Manchester City. Their issue is scoring goals, and Mourinho often likes to set his team up to drop deep while being effective on counterattacks, something that wingers Dwight McNeil and Iliman Ndiaye could excel in.
David Moyes
This would perhaps be more of a nostalgic appointment than anything. The Scottish man was recently just sacked from Premier League team West Ham who are experiencing struggles themselves — sitting 14th in the table just six points above Everton. The draw would be the fact that Moyes had already managed Everton for just over a decade before leaving to manage Manchester United in 2013. His sudden availability may also be a big factor in his potential appointment.
Despite the downturn in form experienced by West Ham under Moyes’ reign, they are in an obvious re-building stage and looked impressive in previous seasons, highlighted by winning the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League in 2023. Whether or not Moyes can effectively manage this Everton side despite being away for so long remains to be seen, but on paper, this seems like an obvious choice.
Massimiliano Allegri
Allegri has had some impressive stints managing Juventus and AC Milan, winning the Serie A six times between the two clubs, and being runners-up of the UEFA Champions League twice. He is currently unemployed after being sacked by Juve last May, and he may have had enough of a break to desire to return to the game. Of course, the issue is that the Italian has never managed a club outside of his home country of Italy, and taking over relegation-threatened Everton would be a stark change of scenery.
Similarly to Mourinho, Allegri emphasizes defensive structure while dynamically switching formations during attacking phases. This could help struggling players like Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jesper Lindstrom be more potent in attack.
