Chris Beesley analyzes what he believes will be a key phase for Sean Dyche with prospective Everton owners 777 Partners in this week’s Royal Blue column.
As weeks go, this has been a good one for Sean Dyche, but the next two weekends now give a platform for things to look even more positive in what might be a key period for him at Everton, demonstrating what he’s capable of to prospective new owners 777 Partners.
The 52-year-old is a master at maintaining a clear head as people around him lose theirs. He is a highly experienced and proven manager at this level, having had Burnley punching above their weight on a relative shoestring budget for the best part of a decade. Dyche learnt a long time ago that he cannot afford to get too caught up in the emotional roller coaster of individual performances, and he insists that the only league table that matters is the final one.
However, he acknowledges that, rightly so, expectations are higher at Everton, who have spent more seasons in the top flight than any other and a club that reminded us that they’re still the fourth most-successful in English football (well, in terms of League Championships at least, for now) when announcing that Farhad Moshiri had agreed a deal to sell all of his 94.1% stake to 777 Partners.
While the same expectations remain, the Blues have just come off the back of the lowest equivalent points total in their 135-year history in the Football League/Premier League, coming within one goal of relegation for the first time in 72 years. “It’s a big club, make no mistake,” Dyche said after securing survival with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth on May 28. We have a big history and a big club, but we don’t perform like a big club.
“We need to find a way to change that.” It’s been two seasons now.
“I’ve played my little part but there is massive amount of change to build to a new dawn, a new future, a bigger future if you like.”
After an unsustainable churn of eight occupants in Goodison Park’s home dugout since Moshiri’s arrival, it’s critical that Dyche is shown the patience required to turn things around by whoever controls Everton. Following the defeat to Arsenal, which sparked speculation about the latest man in charge, the performances and victories at Brentford and Aston Villa – where the visitors were far more dominant than the final scoreline suggested and the manager made a point of saluting his team’s impressive away support both before and after the game – have cooled the situation and created a promising platform for the Blues gaffer to b
It’s amusing that Everton’s first back-to-back away wins in the same week against Premier League competition of the Moshiri dictatorship occurred immediately after the deal to terminate his chaotic and for a long time profligate reign was announced, and it took a manager he didn’t like to get those results. The Monaco-based businessman has been chasing the stars since luring Ronald Koeman to Goodison Park as his first managerial appointment in 2016 to compete against Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, and Jose Mourinho in a region he dubbed “the new Hollywood of football,” to abandoning a pursuit to bring back David Moyes because Carlo Ancelotti had been sacked at Napoli.
Such ostentatious “glamour” doesn’t always sit well with Walton, however, and in many ways, Dyche is a former lower division center-half who is rooted in the values of the British game and a much better fit for the football psyche needed at the Blues. Dyche is similar to the aforementioned Moyes who remained in charge for over 11 years, presiding over the most stable period at Everton during the Premier League era. The ECHO understands that Moshiri wanted Marcelo Bielsa to replace Frank Lampard but was dealt a major setback when the veteran Argentinian coach dubbed ‘El Loco’ arrived at Heathrow Airport in January and proceeded to outline his plan to work with the club’s youngsters for the rest of the season before taking over in the summer, by which time they’d almost certainly be in the Championship.
Dyche has already spoken about his meetings with a 777 delegation at Finch Farm, which comprised co-founder and managing partner Josh Wander as well as Don Dransfield, the football group’s chief executive. The Blues manager described the chats as “very casual” and aimed at getting a sense of the problems he’s faced, but he’s been in the league long enough to know that he’ll already be under severe scrutiny.
All managers are assessed by their performances, but those facing the threat of new ownership at their club are under even more scrutiny. After boosting Everton’s season with back-to-back wins at Brentford and Aston Villa, Dyche can now build on those results with a pair of home games against Luton Town and Bournemouth that appear to be enticing opportunities to secure a couple of more positive results before the next international break and let his team’s football do the talking.
After been forced to field peripheral players and name insufficient substitute benches in the early weeks of the season, Dyche’s options are suddenly more plentiful and appealing. Everton’s expanded squad strength was demonstrated by their ability to go ahead before bringing on players such as Ashley Young, Dwight McNeil, Beto, Idrissa Gueye, and Abdoulaye Doucoure off the bench in the second half.
Despite what appeared to be a strong pre-season, with Dyche able to begin adopting his principles further with the squad, they had not been able to get the results to match in competitive games until seven days ago. There are now signs of the finished product, which the manager and his backroom team have been working hard to achieve.
The potential purchase by 777 raises a slew of fresh problems off the field, but following back-to-back relegation battles, the desperate Blues simply want to have a season free of drama. If those in Goodison Park’s corridors of power – both current and future – focus on financial matters and leave football decisions to those who know, i.e. Dyche, then Everton’s best bet for fulfilling the imperative demand for when they move into the new stadium, which is to remain a Premier League club, is to focus on financial matters.
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