Everton

Dyche was relieved of his duties last Thursday, just hours before Everton beat Peterborough United 2-0 in the FA Cup third round under the tutelage of interim coach Leighton Baines and captain Seamus Coleman.

The 53-year-old's exit came less than a month after the Friedkin Group completed their much-anticipated takeover of the Toffees, bringing an end to the reign of former owner Farhard Moshiri.

Dyche succeeded Frank Lampard at Goodison Park in January 2023 and successfully kept Everton in the Premier League for back-to-back seasons, overcoming two separate points deductions last term before finishing 14 points above the relegation zone.

However, speculation over Dyche's future was rife following the arrival of the Friedkin Group, and the decision was ultimately made for him to leave following a run of just one win in 11 games.

Nevin believes that it became clear that Dyche and Everton's new owners did not share the same vision, but the ex-Burnley boss "should be lauded forever" by Toffees supporters for the "immense job" he carried out during his near two-year spell in charge.

Nevin: 'The Friedkin Group want to make their own mark'

Speaking to Sports Mole, Nevin said: "First of all, Sean saved that club when I don't know how many others could have done it last season. Absolutely saved the club. They would have gone down, but he did an immense job.

"Limited funds - as limited as anyone in the league - couldn't really get his own players in, had to work with what he had. I don't think many other managers would have got as much out of that group as he did, so he should be lauded forever by Everton fans.

"They didn't enjoy his style of play, let's be honest about that, but when the club needed a man to be workman-like and do the job and get it done quickly, he did it brilliantly, so he'll always be in my heart for doing that forever.

"I thought he was quite capable of doing it again this season, although the little run recently didn't help his cause. But I don't think it was that, I think it was something bigger than that. I think the new owners will have a vision. They needed to find out if their vision matched Sean Dyche's and his matched theirs - clearly not, absolutely clearly not.

"Now it may well be that he was more realistic than they thought. They may have told him the dangers that they were in this season. Do they care what he did for the club last season? Probably not. They're looking forward. They've got a new stadium, they'll be the new owners.

"The new owners come in and want to make their own mark, and when that doesn't match up, in a way it's like a marriage that's not going to work. You can go and work at it for a while, but when you both know it isn't going to work in the future, you might as well go and get started on the next phase of your lives."

Nevin added: "Sean will be fine - plenty of clubs will want him, there's no doubt about that, absolutely no doubt about that, so don't worry about Sean."

Is Moyes the right man to replace Dyche at Everton?

The Friedkin Group moved quickly to appoint Moyes as Everton's new manager, with the 61-year-old making an emotional comeback to Goodison Park after almost 12 years away, returning to the familiar stomping ground where he spent over a decade of his managerial career between 2002 and 2013.

Nevin, who made 124 appearances for Everton in his playing days between 1988 and 1992, believes that the Toffees have "100%" appointed the right manager to steer the club in the right direction.

The Scotsman said: "If I had to pick any manager around, and I mean around - not just currently available, around - I'd have picked David Moyes, 100%, above everyone because of the similarities - not exactly the same as Sean Dyche, but there are similarities - of a guy that's had to manage very, very limited squads and get the best out of them.

"Organised, structured, knows the game, fantastic experience, can come in running immediately, because he knows the club and he knows everything about it, doesn't need to learn anything.

"If you're going to get rid of Sean, which I thought was painful and difficult, maybe not the greatest decision, they've made the right man the new manager, so well done there."

Moyes won 42% of his 518 games during his first spell at Everton, while he also guided them to the qualifying rounds of the Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup final in 2009.

The 61-year-old, who left West Ham United at the end of last season, is now tasked with steering Everton away from the relegation zone; the Merseysiders currently sit 16th in the Premier League table and only one point above the bottom three ahead of Wednesday's home clash with Aston Villa.

Pat Nevin was talking to Sports Mole on behalf of talkSPORT BET.

Written by

Oliver Thomas