This’ll cheer a few of you up
Sean Dyche: I’ve done hardest job in Premier League, now I want to keep it
Manager wants to remain in charge when Everton move to new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium but has not been in contact with would-be new owners The Friedkin Group
September 26 2024, The Times
Sean Dyche wants to continue “the hardest job in the Premier league” by leading Everton out at their new stadium next season as part of the club’s vision under US billionaire Dan Friedkin.
This week’s agreement by The Friedkin Group (TFG) to buy out Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has raised the prospect of the Merseyside club turning the page on a turbulent period in their recent history which has included relegation battles, points deductions and financial restrictions.
Dyche has not had any contact from the would-be owners, whose bid is now subject to regulatory approval from the Premier League, the Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority, but made it clear he hopes his future will extend beyond the end of the season, when his contract expires.
Everton have yet to win in the league this term, leaving Dyche under pressure, but having steered the club through the many and varied challenges since being appointed manager in January 2023 the chance to be in charge when the 52,888-capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock opens in time for next season is an alluring one.
“Of course,” Dyche said when asked if he would like to lead Everton at their state-of-the-art new arena on the banks of the River Mersey.
“What, to dig this out for 20-whatever-it-would-be-by-then months and them to go, ‘Cheers, thanks for looking after us, off you pop’? Of course I would [like to stay], but there is no divine right to just go, ‘Oh well, you are definitely the person to do that.’ And if not, then that is the way it goes.
“What I would say is that it has arguably been the hardest job [in the Premier League] over the past few years — if you add in everything. In modern football, you have management and you have coaching.
“This has needed management. This didn’t need a coach. I’ve blended everything. Bringing wages down, getting players in and out. It hasn’t just been me, other people have been involved as well. This has needed management, restructuring.
“If you go to just a head coach, then you are just coaching the players.”
Supporter discontent means Dyche privately knows he faces a battle to convince everyone he can be a long-term fixture, while TFG have shown a ruthless streak at Roma, another of the teams they own, by sacking club legend Daniele De Rossi after four matches— three months after he was given a three-year contract.
Yet Dyche’s perspective is shaped by the experience from his first managerial job at Watford. A takeover of the club in the summer of 2012 by the Pozzo family resulted in him being replaced by Gianfranco Zola despite finishing mid-table.
That change was the start of the managerial churn that has resulted in 22 managers, including caretakers, taking charge of Watford since Dyche was relieved of his duties.
“When I was at Watford I did a great job,” he said. “Finished 11th, brought in £4million worth of players, spent £1million and I got removed from that because it was a complete change of business.
“I respected it. It was under the Pozzo family. That is when they bought in. Forget about me, their whole business model was radically different, so I just went, ‘That’s fair enough, that’s the way it goes.’
“My point is I didn’t get removed because I had done a good or bad job, I just got removed because their whole business model was different.
“I don’t know what the [Friedkin] business model is yet and no one really does. I don’t know the Italian league and their depth of football clubs, but I would imagine that is a different feel, a different club and a different culture to what it will be here.
“So they might try and replicate or they might try to look at it a different way. That is what I will find out if it gets over the line.”
Approval for Friedkin’s bid is expected to come before Christmas and the January transfer window, though, in the meantime, Dyche knows his priority is to win matches — starting with Saturday’s home game against Crystal Palace. Jarrad Branthwaite is in contention after making his comeback from a groin injury with the under-23s against Sunderland last weekend.
