'Dyche looked a beaten man - now Everton owners face huge decision'

Sean Dyche was sacked by Everton's new owners the Friedkin Group just three weeks after they took control

Everton's decision to sack Sean Dyche comes after the manager ran out of road and ideas and new owners the Friedkin Group decided they could not let the rot of this season end in relegation.

It has taken just three weeks for the hierarchy, led by American billionaire Dan Friedkin, to decide 53-year-old Dyche was incapable of taking Everton to Premier League safety, let alone into the magnificent new stadium on the banks of the Mersey at Bramley-Moore Dock that will be their new home.

And this is borne out by the fact both Friedkin and Dyche felt his Everton reign had gone as far it could, accelerating the decision to sack the manager.

Dyche has looked a beaten man in recent weeks, dragged down rather than reinvigorated by fresh leadership, the final straw coming with the desperate 1-0 loss at Bournemouth where Everton could not muster a shot on target.

It was an almost unwatchable display that mirrored much of this season where Everton have won only three of 19 league games while scoring just 15 goals.

The ideal scenario for the Friedkin Group would have been to let Dyche's contract run to its conclusion at the end of the season with Everton safe, setting up a natural break with an opportunity to re-set.

Instead, with Everton's fans increasingly discontented with what they saw as Dyche's negative approach and dour football, allied to recent improvements by Ipswich Town as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers under new manager Vitor Pereira, the owners acted dramatically just hours before the FA Cup third-round game at home to Peterborough United.

So, after less than two years of fighting the odds both financially and in the football context, Dyche could not take Everton any further.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin's goals dried up as Everton only scored 15 in their opening 19 league games

Where did it go wrong for Dyche?

History will be kinder and afford more respect to Dyche than the present, given he kept Everton up in his first season, albeit on the final day with victory against Bournemouth, then repeated it more comfortably last term despite breaches of profit and sustainability rules (PSR) resulting in a deduction of eight points.

And Dyche will always have the memories of an outstanding 2-0 win against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool at Goodison Park in April, a performance that briefly released Everton from the icy grip of the cycle of misery that has enveloped them for years while also wrecking their arch-rivals' Premier League title bid.

This season, however, Everton have gone into decline, with the damage starting to be done when they lost 3-2 at home to Bournemouth on 31 August after leading 2-0 with four minutes of regulation time left.

Everton also lost a 2-0 advantage as they were beaten 3-2 at Aston Villa, and unflattering statistics were piling up around Dyche's team like rubble, leading to his eventual demise.

They have not scored in 11 of their 19 league games this season. There have only been three campaigns in the club's history when they have scored fewer goals after this number of games. As at Bournemouth, they also had no shots on target in the 0-0 draw at Arsenal in December.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin's goals have long dried up with speculation doing the rounds about his future as his contract expires this season. Beto has been a very poor signing after a move from Udinese that was reported to be worth up to £30m, while Armando Broja, on loan from Chelsea, has barely been fit and suffered another serious-looking injury in Thursday's FA Cup third round win over Peterborough United.

In the 10 games before meeting Peterborough, Wolves defender Craig Dawson was Everton's top scorer with two own goals in a rare 4-0 win at Goodison Park.

As the season went on, Dyche's Everton not only looked like they had forgotten how to score, but also how to create chances.

Everton's fans, already bubbling with revolt, had their noses rubbed in it by their Bournemouth counterparts at Vitality Stadium last Saturday as they were taunted with chants of: "How do you watch this every week?"

Dyche was increasingly accused of "dinosaur" management as anger among the fanbase increased at the miserable fare on offer, with only former Burnley winger Dwight McNeil - before he was injured - and summer signing Iliman Ndiaye offering real flair.

Former Everton midfielder and pundit Leon Osman told BBC 5 Live Sport's Monday Night Club: "Doing commentaries on their games is not easy because not much happens.

"I do think there is a lack of quality in the squad, but anyone will tell you that you should still be creating chances and scoring goals. It is a tough watch."

Everton's new owner Dan Friedkin has acted swiftly to sack Sean Dyche and now must find a replacement

Why sack Dyche now?

Everton simply have to start next season in the Premier League as they usher in a new era following the years of crisis and chaos under former owner Farhad Moshiri and with a state-of-the-art stadium opening.

Everything about the last few months has been about a fresh start, from the Friedkin Group – who have a footballing background with their ownership of AS Roma – taking control with renewed ambition and powerful finances, to the new home that they described as a "game changer" on social media only 48 hours before Dyche's dismissal.

Relegation is unthinkable for the Friedkin Group when the future is framed in these terms. Their idea of a new era is climbing up the Premier League ladder, not welcoming Championship sides to Bramley-Moore Dock next season.

And yet, with Everton 16th in the Premier League, one point above the drop zone, the so-called unthinkable was becoming very thinkable given the long run of poor form and chronic inability to score goals and win games.

The ideal scenario of sending Dyche on his way with gratitude in the summer has not come about, so less than a month into their stewardship the Friedkin Group have made their first managerial sacking.

What next for Everton?

The timing of Dyche's sacking is not ideal - when is a sacking ever ideally timed? - and may shift the terms of reference for what the Friedkin Group expected from their first managerial appointment.

No-one expected Dyche to be awarded a new deal at the end of the season - probably not even Dyche himself - but Everton's owners would have liked more time to put their succession planning in place and make an appointment in the summer.

Results and Everton's increasingly perilous position have deprived them of that luxury.

After being linked with Graham Potter, who has been appointed West Ham United's manager, former Everton boss David Moyes has the look of a safe-hands figure, even on a short-term basis. Moyes can be seen as someone with the credentials and past history to guide them away from trouble.

Moyes has been out of work since leaving West Ham, where he won the Europa Conference League in 2023, at the end of last season.

He has already stated his enduring desire and hunger to return to the game.

The 61-year-old Scot, who was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List, told BBC Sport at the time that he did not consider himself finished with management but added: "I wouldn't want to be coming in and doing something which is very difficult.

"I don't want to be at the bottom of the league and fighting relegation, which I have had a few times, so we will see how things go."

Former Everton manager David Moyes says he is still not finished with management - and was made an early favourite to return to Goodison Park

Everton, currently, are all of those things Moyes has said he does not want but perhaps the lure of a return to the club where he spent 11 years before leaving for Manchester United in 2013 will change his mind.

Jose Mourinho, currently with Fenerbahce in Turkey, was linked with the job in the days before Dyche's sacking. He has, however, very mixed previous with the Friedkin Group at AS Roma. His team won the Europa Conference League in 2022, then reached the Europa League final the following year, losing on penalties to Sevilla before he was sacked almost exactly a year ago, and he is now out of the Everton running.

Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca, just sacked by AC Milan, was in the frame for the West Ham job and has often expressed a desire to coach in the Premier League. He would, however, represent a high-risk appointment in Everton's current position.

Moyes, with his experience and knowledge of Everton, looks perhaps the best bet for the board, although he will have to win over some sceptics in the fanbase who railed against his name being mentioned before, regarding it as a retrograde step.

It would be remarkable should Moyes make a comeback, as he was actually in Germany to sign a deal to succeed Marco Silva at Everton in December 2019, until then owner Moshiri's head was turned by Carlo Ancelotti's sacking at Napoli.

With the decision to dismiss Dyche, Everton's new owners have given themselves one of the biggest decisions they will have to take – and one they will have wished could have waited longer.

The threat of relegation from the Premier League, however, speeds up all planned agendas.